Heaven doesnt want me,Hell's afriad i'll take over
by Silver Cross of the Huntress
Summary: Reloaded, reformatted. you know the drill by now, Buffy xover, contains slash. r
1. Default Chapter

BUFFY: "Now we can do this the hard way, or...well actually there's just the hard way."  
  
DARLA: "Fine with me"  
  
BUFFY: "Are you sure? Cos this isn't gonna be pretty, we're talking violence, strong language, adult content..."  
  
(Without breaking Darla's gaze Buffy stakes Thomas)  
  
"...See what happens when you rough house?"  
  
  
  
Welcome to the Hellmouth  
  
Disclaimer: Just for the record I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, who all belong to the amazing J K Rowling. Nor do I own the Buffy/ Angel characters, created by the master who is Joss Whedon. I DO own the four demons Earth, Air, Fire and Water (unless someone else came up with the idea before in which case, I'm sorry, didn't know, and hey, just shows it was a good idea right?!). Some ideas in the story came from the film Dogma directed, written, produced etc by Kevin Smith. Just so you know.  
  
This story does contain strong language, violence, adult content...so if you're under age that's your problem, I did warn you. Some of the adult content is homosexuality and rape. If you're going to criticise my work, make it about the story, not if you just have a problem with gay men. It's in here, if you don't agree with it leave now.  
  
Finally, the story is set in the gang's 6th year at Hogwarts and at the end of 5th season Buffy/ 2nd season Angel. I know that makes me out of date, and I will contradict what happens in the 6th/ 3rd seasons but I'm British, I haven't seen them ok! Blame the BBC for being out of date! Hopefully that avoids any confusion.  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
Harry woke to the usual sounds of Vernon Dursley shouting and stamping his way up the stairs to Harry's room.   
  
"You LAZY layabout, do you have any idea what TIME it is? Dudley's been waiting for his breakfast for the past HALF HOUR!"   
  
Harry blinked to avoid the spit flying into his eyes as his uncle cuffed him sharply round the ear. Harry automatically suppressed a wince. The famous Boy-who-lived getting beaten up by his overweight muggle uncle. Oh yes boys and girls, Harry thought grimly, he can survive the most evil wizard this world has ever seen time and time again, but put him in the ring with a fat muggle and that's the end of it. How glad was that Draco Malfoy couldn't see him now as Vernon gave him a final slap around his face. Only 4 blows, he must be getting soft, Harry thought wryly, as he kept his eyes closed as his uncle stomped down the stairs again muttering about the bloody son of a bitch nephew. Harry sighed and wandered slowly after him. Later today this hell of a summer would be ended and he would be back at Hogwarts for his sixth year. After that just one more summer. He was so close to the end of his time of suffering with the Dursleys he could almost feel it. He had no idea where he would go, but as long as it was away from the Dursleys he didn't much care. He made his way into the kitchen and silently made breakfast amid demands and shouts. Just as silently he served up the full English he had cooked before helping himself to the couple of pieces of slightly stale bread left aside for him.  
  
"So, I suppose I'd better drop you at the station later boy" Vernon's voice was dripping with contempt.  
  
  
  
Ignoring the bitter remark that was threatening to rise Harry settled for a humble "yes please uncle"   
  
"Well, you'd better be ready in ten minutes, I'm not getting stuck in rush hour for anyone, especially you and that BLOODY SCHOOL"  
  
Harry gave a slight sigh of relief; he had already packed his bags last night and sent Hedwig off to Ron's the day before. He would be ready in ten seconds if it came to it. He just had to survive 10 more minutes without provoking his uncle too much and then he wouldn't have to see their ugly faces for ten whole months. He laughed inwardly; he must be unique among teenage boys in actually looking forward to a new school year. But, then again who wouldn't prefer time in a gothic castle learning spells and potions that eventually he would be free to use out of school time. He very much doubted that the Dursleys would come looking for him after the end of his seventh year but in case they did he was almost looking forward to a little bit of subtle revenge. After all Hagrid hadn't gotten into any trouble when he gave Dudley a pig's tale and he wasn't even meant to do magic at all. Harry smirked a bit as he collected his thing and started to take them downstairs. He glanced at his watch. Two more minutes. He glared at the second hand of the watch, willing it to go faster. After what felt like a lifetime his uncle appeared at the front door with him and silently drove him to Kings Cross station.  
  
  
  
Once on platform 9 3/4 it didn't take him long to find Ron and Hermione and for them to climb aboard the train. They settled themselves quickly into an empty compartment. Harry suppressed a wince as Ron and Hermione swiftly abandoned all conversation, preferring to examine each other's tonsils instead.  
  
"Do you want me to leave you two alone?" Harry put as much amusement as he could in his voice. In truth he had forgotten how lonely seeing Ron and Hermione made him feel. Hermione blushed a deep red, which clashed with her boyfriend's hair, and moved away slightly from Ron with a muttered "sorry Harry"  
  
"Hey, it's ok," Harry said with a forced grin.  
  
  
  
"Or rather it will be as soon as we find you a nice suitable boyfriend!" Ron quipped cheekily. This time Harry's grin was genuine as he laughed along with Ron. It had come as quite a shock to everyone, including himself when he realised he was gay almost a year ago.  
  
  
  
"Hmm, who shall we choose," Ron continued, " any House for preference Harry?"   
  
  
  
"Not Slytherin" Harry shuddered.  
  
  
  
"Not even Malfoy?" This comment came from the door. Harry looked up to see Seamus and Dean standing there. Both had been sources of advice and support when he came out as they them selves were in a very comfortable relationship with each other.  
  
"Malfoy?!" Harry exclaimed, "Why on earth would I want to go out with my worst enemy?"  
  
  
  
"Well he IS rather stunning in the looks department" Dean said  
  
While Harry had to agree with this, Malfoy's position on the Slytherin Quiddich team made his body very lithe and fit, there was still the issue of him following his father's footsteps and becoming a Death Eater, as he then mentioned to Dean and Seamus.  
  
  
  
"You mean you haven't heard?" Dean's eyes were wide  
  
"Heard what?" Living with muggles meant Harry was often out of touch with the wizarding world  
  
  
  
"Did you see Malfoy at the station?" Seamus asked.  
  
"No, but then I wasn't looking. What's that got to do with anything?"  
  
Dean and Seamus glanced at each other before Seamus continued. "His father's disowned him. Refused to join You- know- who. Lucius Malfoy was furious. Beat the crap out of him and threw him out on the streets. Draco managed somehow to get an owl to Hogwarts and Snape got him and brought back a couple of weeks ago. Word is his father never wants to see him again and Draco is now homeless and penniless."  
  
  
  
"I pity him being a Slytherin," Dean added. "I've heard some talking of beating him up because of what he did."  
  
  
  
"Crabbe and Goyle, of course, have deserted him and gone to Pansy Parkinson. She's the most powerful Slytherin now" Seamus finished. Harry felt stunned. Malfoy had always seemed to pride himself on his father's position as a Death Eater. He remembered back to their fourth year, after Cedric's death. Malfoy had been celebrating, taunting the others about Voldemort's rise. Looking back Harry realised that it had not been celebration in Malfoy's voice. It had been hysteria.  
  
  
  
"We should help him," Harry murmured.  
  
  
  
"You are kidding" Ron exclaimed. "After everything he's done a couple of beatings should do him good. Maybe that would prove he's really on our side"  
  
  
  
"We can't just sit back and let him get beaten Ron" Hermione stated. "It would be wrong"  
  
  
  
"And make us no better than them" Harry added. "No, we'll do what we can to help him. If he has turned down Voldemort, we can do with all the help we can get. Do Neville and Ginny know?" This last part was directed to Dean and Seamus who nodded. Neville had finally gotten together the courage to ask Ginny out at the end of the summer before the fifth year. Ron had been shocked at first, but quickly came to accept Neville as his baby sister's boyfriend. Harry looked around grimly. "If Voldemort is trying to recruit more followers we can probably safely assume he's getting ready to make his move. We have to be ready to face him." The others all nodded grimly.   
  
"What do we do about Malfoy?" Dean asked  
  
"We do what we can to protect him,"   
  
"But our involvement can only serve to antagonise the Slytherins further"  
  
"I know, but we can't just ignore the situation. Draco made a stand against Voldemort, and it cost him everything. We have to respond to that if we're serious about defeating him. When the time comes we have to be united. We could lose a powerful ally if we turn our backs on Draco now" Harry stopped seeing a strange expression on Ron's face. "What?"  
  
  
  
Ron sighed. "When did Malfoy become Draco to you? I agree we have to help him, stand up for him if we have to but please just make sure...." He trailed off.  
  
  
  
"You think I'm attracted to him," Harry stated  
  
"Aren't you?"  
  
  
  
Harry was silent as he stared at the floor. After a long paused he looked up. "I don't know. He is gorgeous as we all know and I pity him after what he's been through. But that doesn't change the fact a few moments ago I still considered him my worst enemy next to Voldemort. I guess I'm just going to give it time before I decide what my feelings are towards him. Until I do, however, I would prefer it if he stayed alive" he finished with a wry grin. The others laughed and Ron looked more relieved. The rest of the train journey was spent chattering and catching up after the long summer holiday. In what seemed like no time at all they were outside Hogwarts ready for their sixth year. 


	2. chapter 2

BUFFY: "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Buffy and   
  
you're…history."  
  
Never kill a boy on the first date  
  
Chapter 2:  
  
As Harry and the others walked into the Great hall he noticed there was no teacher in   
  
the defence against the dark arts seat. Turning to Hermione and Ron he saw they had   
  
also seen the empty chair. Slowly the school settled at their tables and after the   
  
sorting, Dumbledore stood, as always, to make his opening speech. He was   
  
interrupted, however, by a shrill scream at the other end of the end of the Hall. In   
  
alarm everyone turned to see four huge muscular men striding down the Hall. As they   
  
came closer Harry could see the ugly contortions on their faces and the long cruel   
  
fangs protruding from their mouths. Vampires. They grinned evilly as a guttural   
  
laugh escaped the first while he licked his lips. The school was frozen in fear as they   
  
approached and even the teachers seemed scared.  
  
"Hey"  
  
The voice came from the back of the Hall. "Why don't you pick on someone your   
  
own ugliness?"  
  
The vampires turned along with the rest of the school to see four women standing   
  
there. All four were carrying crucifixes and stakes. The slim blonde in the middle   
  
was also carrying a crossbow. One of the vampires started back towards the women   
  
when the short redhead raised a hand. The vampire was frozen where he stood. The   
  
brunette who had spoken raised an elegant eyebrow. "Then again, as there's no one   
  
here as ugly as you, you'll just have to deal with us." With that the blonde raised her   
  
crossbow. There was a soft swish and a thud followed by a short scream and the   
  
vampire turned to dust. The redhead lowered her hand and the other three stepped   
  
forward, the blond in the middle, the other two, the third also a brunette, but her hair   
  
shorted and tamer than the first's wild curls, backing her up. The three remaining   
  
vampires hesitated before the blonde spun around into a high kick, slamming one of   
  
the vampires in the gut. The two brunettes moved also, each taking one of the   
  
remaining vampires. The first slammed an open palm into her vampire's chest before   
  
slamming her foot into his jaw. As the vampire staggered back she kicked him again   
  
in the side. The vampire however grabbed her foot and swung her around. As she   
  
crashed onto one shoulder she rolled back, swinging her feet up into the vampire's   
  
throat. With the vampire off balance she raised her stake and slammed it into his   
  
heart. The second dealt out a couple of punches to both sides of the third vampire's   
  
head before a sound roundhouse kick to his ribs caused the vampire to fall onto the   
  
floor. She leapt on top of him and swiftly staked him and dropped the last couple of   
  
inches to the floor as he turned to dust. The blonde had by this point already   
  
dispatched her vampire, his dust blowing in the breeze with his companions.   
  
"Too easy" The first brunette rolled her eyes as the other nodded in agreement. "Hey   
  
kid" She continued looking up at Dumbledore "We late or something?"  
  
"Not really my dears, your timing is impeccable. School, I would like you to meet   
  
four of your new defence against the dark arts teachers."  
  
"Did she just call Dumbledore 'kid'?" Ron whispered. Harry shrugged and turned his   
  
attention back to the three women.  
  
"May I introduce Willow Rosenburg" Dumbledore continued. At this the redhead   
  
nodded. "Buffy Summers" The blonde winked. "Water" the first brunette grinned   
  
cheekily. "And finally Fire" The second brunette smiled and shook her hair.   
  
Suddenly shots of auburn and blonde shot through her hair. When it settled it went   
  
back to brown, settling around her shoulders in a neat bob.   
  
"What kind of names are they? Fire. Water. Weirdoes" Pansy Parkinson's voice   
  
rang out from across the Hall.  
  
"The names of beings far older and more powerful than you could ever hope to be"   
  
Water drawled lazily, putting an arm out to stop Fire who had stepped forward, her   
  
eyes flashing dangerously. Fire breathed in through her teeth, controlling her temper.   
  
When she was calm she spoke. "I look forward to our first lesson, maybe I can teach   
  
you some manners"   
  
"Will you be joining us for the feast?" McGonagall's voice was sharp as she   
  
interrupted.  
  
"Nah, vampires to slay, demons to hunt, that kind of thing" there was a definite   
  
American accent to Buffy's voice. "We'll be back first thing in the morning to teach,   
  
don't worry"  
  
At this Willow turned and seemed to pull at the air. A rip opened and a dark portal   
  
appeared. Amid gasps from the students the women climbed into it and disappeared.   
  
A moment later Willow's head reappeared. She leaned out of the portal and grabbed   
  
the bottom. With a cheerful "see ya" she pulled it up and the portal was sealed.  
  
"Well, now that little drama's over, perhaps we may now settle for our wonderful   
  
feast!" Dumbledore exclaimed, "You shall met the remainder of your defence against   
  
the dark arts teachers as time goes on"  
  
With that the food appeared and voices started to babble around the Hall. Harry   
  
turned to Ron and Hermione. "What on earth do you suppose all that was about?"  
  
"Dunno, guess we'll find out at our first lesson," Ron replied  
  
"They look like they'll be able to teach us so much, did you see the way they handled   
  
those vampires, it was incredible" Hermione seemed in shock  
  
"Tell me about it," Seamus added. "I always thought vampires were meant to be lie   
  
super string or something."  
  
Dean looked across at a chair that had been smashed during the fight. "They are.   
  
Must mean those women are just as strong."  
  
"But that redhead, Willow Rosenburg wasn't it?" Hermione paused for conformation.   
  
"She just raised her hand then wham! I mean, he could move, he was just frozen.   
  
That's very advanced magic. I didn't see any wand either, it was incredible"  
  
"People that strong would make powerful allies against Voldemort," Harry mused.   
  
"And from the sound of it there's more of them"  
  
"Guess we'll just have to wait and see" Ron said  
  
"So where's Malfoy?" Harry asked  
  
"Why, you interested?" Seamus' voice was teasing  
  
"Worried" Harry corrected  
  
"He's over there on the Slytherin table, exactly where he's supposed to be" Dean   
  
assured Harry.  
  
"The Slytherin table!" Harry exclaimed. "They'll slaughter him! Don't the teachers   
  
realise what danger he's in?"  
  
"I'm sure their on top of the situation Harry" Hermione soothed. Harry just looked   
  
concerned. "I'm still not happy"  
  
"Harry calm down" This was from Ginny. Everyone else was shocked. They'd   
  
never heard Ginny Weasley argue with Harry Potter before. "Malfoy will,   
  
unfortunately be fine. He's a strong person anyway, and you know he's the most   
  
talented Slytherin by a long shot. They wouldn't have a chance if they tried to curse   
  
him" Harry nodded, agreeing finally. Gradually the students all finished the feast and   
  
Dumbledore stood again. "Before you all depart, I would like to make the Head boy   
  
and girl announcements as well as finalising this years junior prefects. Firstly this   
  
years Head boy will be Mr Edward Westfield from Ravenclaw House and this years   
  
Head girl will be Miss Jennifer Logan from Gryffindor." The school applauded   
  
politely as the two seventh years stood. Dumbledore continued, "The sixth year   
  
prefects will be Mr Draco Malfoy from Slytherin; Mr Justin Finch-Fletchley from   
  
Hufflepuff; Miss Hermione Granger from Gryffindor and Miss Mandy Brocklehurst   
  
from Ravenclaw" The school applauded again as the new prefects stood. "Finally, I   
  
would like to say welcome back, work hard and have a good year. I believe all the   
  
prefects know the new passwords."  
  
With that the students started to scramble for the exit, chattering excitedly once more.   
  
As the Gryffindors approached the portrait of the Pink Lady Hermione pushed to the   
  
front. "Starlight. The new password's starlight" The portrait swung open and they   
  
climbed inside. Once in the common room Ron collapsed onto a chair, pulling   
  
Hermione onto his lap. "Well, looks like this is going to be an interesting year"  
  
"That's an understatement" Dean agreed.  
  
Harry nodded as he watched the various other years milling around him, all excitedly   
  
chattering to one another. With a load groan he collapsed onto a large cushion. He   
  
looked up to see the others all looking at him in concern. "This sucks!" Ron frowned   
  
"What sucks?"  
  
"Everything"  
  
"Care to elaborate just a tad?"  
  
"Having to live life in fear of some evil bastard everyone thought died over 16 years   
  
ago, having vampires, VAMPIRES, invade the feast, having some weird outsiders of   
  
bizarre power teaching us, and only one more year until the bloody NEWTS. I mean   
  
we just had the OWLS last year, give us a break already. We're too busy fighting the   
  
forces of evil to worry about exams. And I'm still bloody single."   
  
"Sooo, really everything just bout covered it" Seamus commented dryly  
  
"Yep." Harry agreed with a sigh. "Don't even get me started on the whole, my   
  
godfather's a wanted criminal, and for a crime he didn't commit"  
  
"Yeah, cos, that just gets boring after the first thousand or so tellings"   
  
"Ron, are you gaining a sarcastic streak?" Neville gasped in mock horror while   
  
everyone, including Harry laughed at Ron's blush.   
  
"Maybe, but still, Harry you've got to stop angsting about everything."  
  
"Is 'angsting' even a word?" Hermione mused.  
  
"I don't know, but that's what Harry's doing," Ron exclaimed  
  
"I'm sorry, it just seems like so much. Ok, Ok, I'll stop whining" Harry laughed after   
  
the others glared at him. "I promise. This year will be a happy year away from angst   
  
and I will not be single by the end of it!"   
  
"Oooh, is that a promise?" Seamus asked cheekily  
  
"Which part?"  
  
"Both"  
  
"Yeah, it's a promise."  
  
"So, what do you think of these new teachers?" Hermione asked, focused, as always,   
  
on schoolwork.  
  
"Could go either way," Dean commented. "They could be brilliant, or they could be   
  
disasters like that guy we had last year."  
  
"But that guy was like Lockheart, he blatantly didn't know his stuff, these seem to.   
  
And they must be good if they kept Snape away from the post again. Dumbledore's   
  
hardly likely to choose stranger's if they weren't good," Ron added  
  
"And we all saw how they handled those vampires," Neville said.  
  
"Guess, we'll just have to wait and see. Shouldn't be long until our first lesson."   
  
"Ron groaned. "Bet we have Snape first thing tomorrow. Be just our luck if our first   
  
lesson of the year is with the Slytherins" 


	3. chapter 3

GILES: "A Slayer hunts vampires. Buffy's the Slayer. Don't tell anyone."  
  
The Harvest  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Harry woke early the next morning. For several minutes he lay listening to the sounds   
  
of his roommates' breathing. After a while he got up and wandered down to the   
  
common room. To his surprise Hermione was already there, working as usual.   
  
"'Mione, we haven't even started term yet, you can't be working already"  
  
Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice. "Oh, morning Harry. Just re writing the   
  
essay Professor Snape set us. I thought of some more things to add."  
  
Harry winced at the reminder of the summer essay Snape had set them. To describe   
  
it as brutal would be an understatement. Wordlessly he leaned over to give Hermione   
  
a hug. "What was that for?" she asked, smiling.   
  
"No reason. Just felt like giving you a hug. You know I love ya right?"  
  
"Should I be jealous?" Ron's voice came from the staircase. Harry laughed. "Nah,   
  
love ya too. The whole lot of ya!"  
  
"Aw, Harry, you're making me blush" Seamus called as the others all laughed.  
  
"Come on guys, I'm starving. Breakfast awaits."  
  
"Neville, do you always think with your stomach?" Dean asked  
  
"Leave him alone" Ginny was, as always quick to defend her boyfriend.   
  
"You mean I can't tease him any more. How boring!" Dean retaliated as Neville   
  
playfully punched him on the arm.  
  
"Children, children, can we please have breakfast now?" Harry cried, amid laughter.   
  
Slowly, everyone made their way to the Great Hall, where breakfast as laid out   
  
waiting. As they tucked in the senior prefects came down the aisles, handing out the   
  
timetables to every student.  
  
"Wow, DADA first thing!" Ron exclaimed  
  
"Makes a change, don't we always have a lesson with Slytherins first?" Dean asked.  
  
Harry's face fell as he read on further. "We do. We now have DADA with them as   
  
well as potions."  
  
Ron groaned loudly, crashing his head onto the table. Similar groans could be heard   
  
from the Slytherin table as they read the same information.  
  
"Well, just look on the bright side, at least we'll be first to find out what these new   
  
teachers are like," Hermione offered tentatively.  
  
"'Mione, it's the Slytherins! For a whole year! It doesn't get any worse than this!"   
  
"Ron, you're being a bit melodramatic. And with Dra.. Malfoy being in the position   
  
he is, maybe it won't be so bad. He may keep his mouth shut for once," His gorgeous   
  
mouth, perfectly formed lips. Inwardly Harry groaned. It was no denying it. He   
  
found Draco attractive. How was he meant to behave in DADA as well as potions?   
  
He looked up to see Ron looking at him oddly. "What?"  
  
Ron sighed. "Just accept it Harry, you're attracted to him. Call him Draco if you   
  
want. Just…wait awhile, see if he's improved. IF he seems like a decent person, I   
  
may be ok, if you decide to pursue him."  
  
"Pursue him, Ron, I don't even know if he's gay, I mean he always seemed to be   
  
with Pansy."  
  
"I know, I know, you'll just have to find out. IF he's improved his extreme   
  
personality problem!"  
  
"Ron, if he's as obnoxious as before, there's no way I'd be interested."  
  
"That's fine then"  
  
"Boys, if you hadn't noticed time is moving on and we have a lesson to get to."   
  
Hermione interrupted. Harry glanced around and saw the Hall had almost emptied   
  
itself. With a gasp he and the others, left the Hall also.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed down the corridor almost crashing into the   
  
Slytherins and Gryffindors already there.  
  
"Oh look who's decided to join us," Pansy's voice was sarcastic as she came strolling   
  
up with Crabbe and Goyle following. Harry turned round to comment when he saw   
  
Pansy staring past him at Malfoy who was walking slowly. Malfoy raised his head   
  
and his mercury grey eyes burned with defiance. Harry was, once again, struck by   
  
how amazingly good-looking he was. Control, he thought, don't be ruled by your   
  
bloody hormones. Pansy was smirking as she opened her mouth to make another   
  
remark, when the classroom door opened.  
  
"I wouldn't," a middle aged British man stood at the door. Behind him were the two   
  
brunettes, Fire and Water and the blonde, Buffy from the night before. There was   
  
also a tall bleached blonde man in a long leather coat.  
  
"And who exactly is going to stop me?" The Gryffindors gasped as the Slytherins,   
  
with the obvious exception of Malfoy, smirked. "You?" Pansy continued. "How   
  
exactly are you qualified to teach this subject?"  
  
"Oh, it's you," Fire strode forward, only to be restrained by Water and Buffy placing   
  
their hands on her shoulders. "I seem to remember promising to teach you some   
  
manners." Her hazel eyes flashed menacingly, her hair flashing bright shots of auburn   
  
and blonde as she moved.  
  
"Fire…" Water drawled warningly. "Be nice to the pathetic bully. Let her keep   
  
some illusion that she is of any importance."  
  
Pansy's face darkened and she stepped forward only to be stopped by the blonde   
  
man. "Give me a reason. Just one," he muttered  
  
"Spike, do try to be civil, just once in your life." The elder man scowled. "And if it's   
  
not too much trouble, can we please start?"  
  
The students slowly shuffled in. Harry tried to catch Draco's eyes, but couldn't.   
  
Pansy backed away from the blonde man whose eyes followed her to her seat. The   
  
British man then sat at the desk while the others gathered round. The blonde sat on   
  
the desk, before Buffy pulled him off.   
  
"Perhaps some introductions are in order, I am Mr Giles and my less than   
  
charming…I don't want to say friend… acquaintance here is Spike. I believe you've   
  
already met Burry, Fire and Water. You wish to know what qualifies us to teach   
  
defence against the dark arts? To put it simply, we've been fighting the dark arts, the   
  
forces of darkness for many years now. I am a representative from the Council of   
  
Watchers."  
  
"Guess what they do?" Spike interrupted. Giles glared at him. "Yes, thank you   
  
Spike. Spike, incidentally, is a vampire. No need to worry though, he's   
  
quite…harmless." He smiled at Spike who seemed quite offended. "Hey, I'm still the   
  
big bad around here." At this both Water and Fire loudly cleared their throats.   
  
"Except you two of course little misses oh so powerful demon girls." Water grinned   
  
and Harry was suddenly reminded of a wolf grinning at his prey. He shuddered   
  
slightly at that image.  
  
"Demon?" Hermione's voice was shaking.   
  
"Don't worry kiddo, we wouldn't harm a hair on your pretty head" Once again   
  
Water's voice drawled lazily. "Don't be so quick to make the presumption all   
  
demons are evil. We just have the power to be. Lots of power. To be very evil." She   
  
giggled slightly to herself as Fire grinned widely.   
  
Giles sighed wearily. "So, if I may finish, I'm a Watcher, Spike's a vampire and   
  
these two are demons"  
  
"What about her?" Draco's voice was softer than normal as he gestured at Buffy.   
  
Giles glanced around at the petite blonde.  
  
"Give it up Giles," Buffy said. "Secret identities just aint what they used to be"  
  
Giles sighed. "Very well" he paused and looked into space for a moment before   
  
nailing the class with a steely glare. "'In every generation there is a Chosen One. She   
  
alone will stand against the Vampires, the Demons and the Forces of Darkness. She   
  
is the Slayer.'"   
  
"And she's the Slayer?"  
  
"Yes, for around six years now. She's lived longer than most, mainly because, unlike   
  
most other Slayers in the past she does not fight alone."  
  
"You guys help her?"  
  
"Us, and some others you will meet. Willow Rosenburg, whom you met last night,   
  
and Tara McClay are very powerful witches. In addition to Water and Fire here, are   
  
their brothers, Air and Earth. Um.. Xander, Gunn and Fred. Wesley, another   
  
representative from the Watchers Council."  
  
"He got fired," Buffy interrupted. "After Faith went psycho and I quit following the   
  
Council's orders."  
  
"Ah, yes, forgot that. Anyway, where was I? Anya, a former vengeance demon,   
  
Angel and err.. Cordelia, who gets visions from the P.T.B. Have I missed anyone?"   
  
He glanced at Buffy   
  
"Dawn," Buffy murmured softly  
  
"Of course. Dawn, Buffy's sister." Giles looked up to see bewilderment in the   
  
classes' eyes. "What? Oh, P.T.B, our shorthand for the Powers That Be" The class   
  
still seemed confused. Giles smiled gently. "It will all become clear in time"  
  
"Quite a group," Pansy's sarcastic tones filled the room. "But that still doesn't   
  
explain how you can teach us. Sounds like we're more powerful than you"  
  
Buffy glanced at Water. "Looks like she can give you a run for your money in the   
  
sarcastic stakes." She turned, her face suddenly serious, "Give me three ways to kill   
  
a vampire?" She snapped. "No, too slow, by the time you floundered like that he   
  
would have already ripped your throat out." Spike nodded in agreement. Water spoke   
  
up lazily as usual. "Decapitation, fire or a good ol' stake through the heart." She   
  
grinned at Buffy. "They also explode if they drink Holy water."  
  
"In these lessons," Buffy continued. "We will teach you how to identify and kill as   
  
many demons as we can fit in, how to fight in unarmed hand to hand combat and   
  
every spell, curse or counter curse you can handle. And you are going to work your   
  
arses off. In return we'll do our best to rid you of this evil wizard problem you have."  
  
"Should be easy compared to that psycho hell god we fought last year," Spike   
  
commented. "And defeated I might add."  
  
"God?" Neville squeaked  
  
"Yeah right," Water's mutter was barely audible. "Lowly demon with delusions of   
  
grandeur more like."  
  
"You ok?" Buffy asked as Fire glanced at her sharply.  
  
"Of course" Water was swiftly back to her smooth sarcastic demeanour. There was a   
  
short uncomfortable silence before Giles spoke up. "Well, we should start as we   
  
mean to go on, our first lesson will be about a subject we are unfortunately all too   
  
familiar with. Vampires. What do any of you know about vampires?" As expected   
  
Hermione raised a tentative hand. "Yes… I'm sorry what is your name?"  
  
"Hermione Granger, Professor"   
  
Giles started. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to being referred to as professor"  
  
"You'd better not call me professor," Water commented. "Makes me feel old."  
  
"You are old." Buffy stated.  
  
"No need to be rude."  
  
"I'm sorry Miss Granger, my colleges do not know the meaning of manners." Giles   
  
interrupted. "You were about to say?"  
  
"Well, um, vampires can't survive in sunlight, sir"  
  
"That's right, however we must make the distinction between daylight and sunlight."  
  
Spike took over. "A vampire can survive quite happily in shadow or on a cloudy day.   
  
It's only the direct rays of sun that are deadly to a vampire, not light itself."  
  
"Another common misconception is that holy water or garlic will kill a vampire,"   
  
Buffy continued. "Only if eaten. Otherwise they just burn. As does a crucifix"  
  
"The only easy ways to kill vampires," Giles finished. "Are through beheading,   
  
direct sunlight or a wooden stake through the heart."  
  
"Has to be wooden and directly through the heart." Spike interrupted.  
  
"Yes," Giles agreed. "Vampires are also incredibly strong, always avoid dealing   
  
with them one on one." With that he glanced at his watch. "Ah, look at the time,   
  
well, write an essay on the behavioural patterns of the vampire with references to   
  
famous historic vampires and ways to identify and kill vampires. Due in next lesson.   
  
Thank you very much." With that he stood and he and the others left the classroom,   
  
leaving behind excited chattering. Once outside Giles glanced at his companions.   
  
"Well, what do you think?"   
  
Water looked thoughtful. "Generally they seem to be ok. That girl with the attitude   
  
could be a problem, as could those two goons that were with her. That boy, the one   
  
Dumbledore told us about…"  
  
"Draco Malfoy, the one with the silver blonde hair?" Buffy asked  
  
"That's the one. He's smart, we should watch him, and the Gryffindors."  
  
"You're not talking about those two airheads?" Fire exclaimed. "What were their   
  
names?"  
  
"Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil." Buffy informed her  
  
Water grinned slightly. "Ok, the Gryffindors apart from them. The boys and Miss   
  
Granger. They seem smart; they could have potential."  
  
"Potential for what?" Spike asked. "You talk like we're facing a bloody war."  
  
"Aren't we?" She shot back. "Come on Spike, don't be so naïve. This wizard guy,   
  
Voldemort, we could need some help on this one. From what Dumbledore said he's   
  
powerful. And don't forget, that Potter kid has faced him a few times. He's a killer;  
  
He doesn't care who he kills as long as it's a sentient being. He kills for the fun of   
  
killing and that becomes an addiction."  
  
"You sound like maybe you know something on the subject?" Buffy said softly. Fire   
  
looked sharply at Water, a warning in her eyes.   
  
"Well, maybe I do." Water muttered. "Come on Fire, we've got to see the guys."   
  
With that she turned and swiftly strode away. Fire glanced around at everyone before   
  
following her friend. Buffy stared after them. "What is the deal with those guys?"  
  
Giles sighed. "I have no idea. They are undeniably powerful; we've seen some of   
  
the devastation they can cause. And their knowledge of the supernatural is   
  
phenomenal. But, in all my research, I've never come across any demon resembling   
  
their description. All they will tell is that they're old and powerful."  
  
"And not evil." Buffy added. "They're always very quick to point that out."  
  
"You ever seen Water's reaction to Glory?" Spike commented. Giles sighed. "No,   
  
Spike, but I'm sure it is of no consequence."  
  
"It may be," Buffy said. "In the class today, she seemed resentful of Spike   
  
mentioning Glory's power. She muttered something about delusions of grandeur.   
  
Maybe there's some history there."  
  
"But to be on Glory's level…" Giles trailed off. He didn't have to finish his thought   
  
aloud. To be on Glory's level the elemental demons would have to be very powerful   
  
indeed.  
  
  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Harry looked at the others as the teachers left the classroom. Ron looked in shock.   
  
"You ok?" Harry asked  
  
"An essay. On vampires. On our first day. This isn't fair."  
  
"Well, I think it's a good idea, gets us warmed up for the year and lets us know what   
  
to expect." Hermione commented. "And these teachers seem to know their stuff, we   
  
could really learn something this year."  
  
"Demons, vampires, hell gods." Dean seemed stunned. "Don't you think   
  
Dumbledore threw us in a little over our heads?" Harry opened his mouth to reply   
  
when he stumbled as Malfoy pushed past him. "Hey, look where you're going!"   
  
Malfoy turned and was about to reply when Pansy strolled up with Crabbe and Goyle.   
  
"Oh please Malfoy, get out of my way. Don't get above yourself thinking you're of   
  
any influence. I mean your own parents can't stand the sight of you." Malfoy's eyes   
  
burned with anger and was about to retaliate when Harry jumped in. "Shut up   
  
Parkinson, at least Malfoy has some talent unlike yourself. How are you going to   
  
cope this year without your personal helper explaining everything to you?"   
  
"Watch your mouth Potter, or you may find someone shutting it for you," Pansy   
  
sneered as Crabbe and Goyle flexed their fists.   
  
"Witty comeback as always Parkinson. How clever. Have a good year."  
  
Crabbe drew back his hand threateningly.  
  
"Oh, hello Professor," Hermione said looking round the corner behind them. Crabbe   
  
and Goyle looked confused before Pansy pulled on their arms, pulling them away.   
  
"You haven't heard the last of this Potter. Or you Malfoy. We'll see you in the   
  
common room later."   
  
"You shouldn't have jumped in like that," Malfoy snapped.  
  
"You're welcome," Harry returned.  
  
"Always one to stick your nose in Potter, can't you just stay out where you're not   
  
wanted?"  
  
"Well, gee Malfoy I only wanted to help."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Harry floundered. "Well… I guess I feel sorry for you."   
  
Wrong answer. Malfoy whirled around, eyes flashing dangerously. "Potter,   
  
understand this, I don't need your help, and I certainly don't need your pity." With   
  
that he turned and virtually fled down the corridor.   
  
"Well, that was weird," Seamus commented.  
  
"Not really," Harry groaned. "Don't forget the infamous Malfoy pride. I just hope I   
  
haven't made the situation worse for him."  
  
"Malfoy can take care of himself, Harry." Ron said gently. "Come on, we've got   
  
other things to worry about, like this essay for a start…" Ron's voice faded as he   
  
wandered off with the others. Harry jumped, realising he had been left behind. "Hey,   
  
wait up." He yelled as he ran after them toward the Great Hall for lunch.  
  
The rest of the day went by without incident. All the Gryffindors with the exception   
  
of Hermione had Divination that afternoon and apart from the usual predictions of   
  
Harry's gruesome death it was very quiet. Fortunately Professor Trewleny was in a   
  
tranced out mood and didn't bother setting any homework. After dinner all the sixth   
  
year Gryffindors went up to the library to work on the Vampire essay. They were   
  
joined by Ginny who was furious with Snape for setting a potions essay on the first   
  
day. Harry tried to concentrate but couldn't help staring at the lone figure of Malfoy   
  
who was also in the library. He watched as Malfoy stood to go but stumbled as some   
  
third year Slytherins barged past without acknowledging his presence. Malfoy simply   
  
stood to one side until they had left before slowly wandering out by himself. After he   
  
left Harry could focus on his essay. Before long it was 9 o clock and the group   
  
decided to head back to the common room. There they relaxed, Ron playing chess   
  
against Dean and Seamus and Hermione continuing to work on her essay. Neville   
  
and Ginny were curled up together on one of the sofas near the roaring fire. Harry sat   
  
on a large cushion content to simply watch his friends until curfew. It was amazing   
  
how different they all were. Hermione was studious while Ron was quick to fly off   
  
the handle. Seamus was flirty and bouncy while Dean was quiet and contemplative.   
  
Neville and Ginny seemed the most likely couple, both being, at times, painfully shy.   
  
Strange, though, Harry mused, that being in their relationship had brought both of   
  
them out of their shells and given them so much more confidence. He yawned, the   
  
heat from the crackling fire making him sleepy. He passed the others on the way up   
  
to bed, however when he got there he found he couldn't sleep. The other boys had   
  
long come up them selves before Harry managed to nod off.  
  
As Harry slept he heard a voice crying out to him in his dreams. The voice was in   
  
pain and begging Harry to help. With a start Harry woke, shaking. He blinked a few   
  
times before reaching for his glasses. Staring at his watch he saw that it was just gone   
  
2am. He breathed deeply as he lay back done. It was a dream. It was a dream. He   
  
thought to himself. Just a dream. But he couldn't get back to sleep. As soon as he   
  
closed his eyes he heard the voice again. He got up and pulled on a pair of jeans and a   
  
tee shirt. Grabbing the invisibility cloak he headed to the door. With a quick glance   
  
back at his sleeping roommates he left.   
  
Climbing out of the portrait hole he paused, trying to gather his composure.   
  
However he still heard the voice and had a flash of realisation of where he had to go.   
  
Flinging the invisibility cloak over his head he ran down the corridor. He didn't stop   
  
running until he came to Professor Lupin's old room. He banged on the door   
  
furiously until it was opened by a very tired Water. She pushed her long curls out of   
  
her face and looked at Harry in bewilderment. "What are you doing?" She asked, her   
  
voice raspy from sleep. "It's 2 in the morning."  
  
"I didn't know where else to go."  
  
Water looked at the boy's emotional face. She had to look up to see in his eyes.   
  
Great, she thought, I'm like the oldest person in the building and I'm one of the   
  
shortest. Seeing the desperation in his eyes she wordlessly stood back, allowing   
  
Harry into the room. She pulled her silk robe tighter around herself. Giles had   
  
warned her about English weather, but she was still freezing.   
  
"What's up?" A sleepy male voce asked. Harry started as a tall, handsome,   
  
muscular man got up from where he was lying on the sofa. Fortunately he was   
  
wearing boxers, but nothing else.   
  
"Nothing, Air, go back to sleep," Water said softly. Turning to Harry she grinned   
  
wryly. "My brother. It's never a good idea to wake him up. He'll be fine now, but   
  
hell in the morning. So, what's up, why are you knocking at my bedroom door at 2   
  
am?"  
  
"I heard someone cry out for help."  
  
"Where?" she was suddenly awake.  
  
Harry suddenly felt stupid. "In my sleep. But it was real, I swear." He looked at   
  
Water to see if she believed him. She nodded. "I've seen too many things to doubt   
  
the powers of the mind. Where was the cry coming from?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Yes you do. Close your eyes. Concentrate. Hear the voice. Where is it?"  
  
Harry did that. The pain from the voice was almost too much to bear. He was close   
  
to giving up when he suddenly saw the place in his mind. Looking up at Water he   
  
said. "Follow me." Water turned and raised her right hand. A crossbow from the   
  
opposite side of the room came floating across and gently settled in her hand. She   
  
raised her left hand and a crucifix also came floating across. Harry could see the ends   
  
of the crucifix had been filed to sharp points. Water tied her robe up tightly. Looking   
  
at Harry she nodded and they wordlessly left her room.   
  
It didn't take long for Harry to find the corridor the voice had come from. Rushing   
  
forward he saw a slumped figure on the floor. He could see the moon from outside   
  
the window reflected in the blood on the floor. The two other figures, towering   
  
above, turned at the sound of Harry and Water approaching. With a swift glance at   
  
each other they fled. Water started to follow them as Harry knelt down and turned the   
  
figure on the floor over. Despite the huge amount of blood covering the hair, the   
  
reflection of the moon left no doubt as to whom it was. Only one person Harry knew   
  
had hair that beautiful shade of silvery blonde. It was Malfoy. He looked up as he   
  
heard the soft swoosh of an arrow from the crossbow release. There was a loud thud   
  
as it connected with its target. However when Water came back she came back alone.   
  
"Got the bastard in the lower leg, but he still got away. How is he?" She asked as she   
  
knelt down next to Harry. "Bad, we need to get him to the hospital wing." Water   
  
nodded and scooped Draco up into her arms. Using her phenomenal strength she   
  
carried Draco to the infirmary, her crossbow and crucifix/ stake floating behind her as   
  
Harry went on ahead. He woke Madam Pomfrey who seemed too sleepy to do her   
  
job. Harry worried until he saw her grab a small glass vial by her bedside. Drinking   
  
from it, she instantly woke up and turned in preparation for Water rushing in with   
  
Draco. Madam Pomfrey gestured for Draco to be placed on the bed before she pulled   
  
the curtain around, shutting Water and Harry out. Water turned to Harry. "You may   
  
want to stay here. I'm going back to see if I can find details about what happened."   
  
Harry nodded numbly and Water turned and walked out of the hospital wing. Swiftly   
  
reaching the spot where she had shot the attacker she saw Filch finishing cleaning up   
  
the blood that had been spilt. Draco's blood still glistened further down the corridor.   
  
"What are you doing?" She shrieked at Filch. "That was bloody evidence."  
  
"It's messing up my corridor," Filch replied. Water tried to suppress a shudder. He   
  
really was a loathsome man.   
  
"There's been an incident here, that blood was the only chance of proving who the   
  
guilty party was. You idiot, you've just helped a vicious attacker."  
  
"What's going on here?" Snape's silky voice floated down the corridor towards them.   
  
"May I ask, what you are doing in the corridors at night. Mr Filch here is doing his   
  
rounds. What excuse do you have for harassing him?"  
  
Water glowered at him. "I have as much right to be wandering these corridors as you   
  
Snape. I'm a teacher here, same as you. There's been an attack. The victim is   
  
someone who may concern you. Draco Malfoy."   
  
Snape started. "And I suppose he was attacked by a vampire. Or is there another   
  
creature that is stopped by a stake through the heart?"  
  
Water grinned predatorily. "You'd be surprised how many things a stake through the   
  
heart will kill."  
  
Snape felt a shiver go down his spine. She unnerved him so much. She, and her kind   
  
were so eerie, their quiet confidence, undeniable beauty. He glanced back at the   
  
demon, who was staring at him, an elegant eyebrow raised menacingly. "Where is the   
  
boy now?"  
  
"In the hospital wing, with Potter."  
  
"Potter? What's he got to do with any of this?"  
  
"He found Malfoy."  
  
"He was wandering around after hours?"  
  
"Yes." She glared at him, daring him to comment. Snape sighed. "Very well. I   
  
shall head over there now. Do you have any idea who did this?"  
  
"Well I would if this idiot hadn't just cleaned up the evidence." Filch shifted   
  
uncomfortably. Water sighed with barely contained anger. "I did get one in the leg,   
  
with a crossbow bolt." Snape nodded. "I'll be off. You should wake the   
  
headmaster." Water nodded. Snape took off down the corridor toward the hospital   
  
wing. Water looked around the scene grimly before taking off in the opposite   
  
direction towards Dumbledore's quarters.  
  
Snape entered the hospital wing softly. The first thing he saw was Potter sitting on a   
  
chair, his head in his hands. Potter looked up and saw Snape standing there. He   
  
adopted a panicked deer caught in headlights look before Madam Pomfrey pulled   
  
back the curtains. Both men looked at her, the same silent question on their lips. She   
  
nodded wearily. "He'll be fine." Potter's face broke into a wide relieved grin. "Can   
  
I see him?"  
  
"Yes, he hasn't regained consciousness yet so be warned."  
  
Snape moved forward and pulled back the curtain fully. He gasped as he saw the   
  
bruises and cuts on Malfoy's face. "I have to see Dumbledore," he muttered.   
  
"Poppy, you'd best come with me." With that they both departed leaving Harry alone   
  
with Draco. He suppressed a feeling of nausea as he looked at the injuries. Who ever   
  
had done this would pay he silently promise Draco. He pulled the chair up to Draco's   
  
bedside and prepared to wait until he woke.  
  
  
  
So, what do you think? PLEASE review! All reviews to   
  
hannah_corry@hotmail.com! Cheers me dears! 


	4. chapter 4

Thanks to everyone whose read this.. quite amazing really. I'm sooo sorry about the paragraphing, but I am new to this, so if any one would like to e mail an idiots guide on how to avoid this...   
  
Just to repeat, I'm not getting any money from this, I don't own any of the buffy/harry lot, this is just the result of a twisted imagination.  
  
Loads of thanks go to The Noble Lady Allylandra, who introduced me to ff.net. So if you hate this it's all her fault! Check out her fic The Right Choice.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Malfoy woke just after dawn, blinking and bewildered. "What happened?" He groaned. At the sound of his voice Harry started, woken suddenly from his light sleep.   
  
"Potter, what are you doing here? What happened?"  
  
  
  
"You were attacked last night. I found you and brought you here."  
  
"So what are you still doing here?" Malfoy's drawl was as sarcastic as ever. Harry felt his face flush as he remembered his worry for Malfoy.  
  
"I just wanted to see if you were alright. Guess I can go now." He got up and turned to go.   
  
  
  
"Wait." Malfoy's voice was so soft Harry almost missed it. He turned and saw Malfoy's pale face staring up at him. Malfoy swallowed hard. "Did the ones who did it get caught?"  
  
"No." Draco seemed strangely relieved. Dammit, Harry thought, stop thinking of him as Draco, he's Malfoy, your worst enemy bar Voldemort and he's just been beaten up for fucks sake, stop thinking of how you'd like to screw his brains out. Harry looked up to see a slightly amused smile on Draco's face. For a moment Harry panicked worrying Draco could read what he was thinking.   
  
"Are you still with me?" Draco asked, "You seem miles away."  
  
"No, I mean yes, I'm still here, I'm not miles away."  
  
"Listen, if you want to go, then go, I won't force you to stay."  
  
"I'm fine, but I'm not the one people should be worried about."  
  
Draco laughed humourlessly. "It'll take more than a small beating to slow me down, I'll still be there to make sure you lose the Quiddich game against Slytherin." Harry grinned, "You will never beat me at Quiddich." Draco laughed, with genuine humour this time. "I wouldn't bet on that." Both boys ginned for a moment, enjoying the strange comradely between them. Suddenly Harry saw a flash from the night before. Water's face floated in front of him. * "He still got away" * An image of the crossbow and the crucifix floating towards her hand also flashed before him.   
  
"What's the matter?" Draco asked. "You just growled." Harry turned towards Draco. As he struggled to regain his composure he muttered, "I'll be back in a minute," before leaving the infirmary. Once outside he took off at a run along the corridor towards Water's room. As he rounded a corner he ignored the angered cries of the second years he crashed into, sending books and papers flying. He stopped, panting hard, catching his breath outside her door. He hammered hard, his fist pounding against the solid wood. After what felt like a lifetime the door was opened by the handsome man from the night before, Air, Water's brother. Anger flared in his eyes as he glowered at Harry.  
  
"Where is she?" Harry half yelled  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Water."  
  
"She's sleeping." Came the short reply.  
  
"Really? Get her out here now." Air glared at Harry before leaning forward and grabbing him by the scruff of the neck. Hauling him into the room, he slammed him against the wall. "You ought to learn some respect for your elders my boy." With that Air raised his fist to strike Harry  
  
"Air" Both men turned to see Water standing at the doorway of the bedroom. She strode forward and gently placed her hand on her brother's arm. "You ought to learn how to not be so grouchy if you're woken up in the middle of the night." She told him with a wry grin. Air smiled back at his sister and lowered Harry to the ground. Water watched him as he turned and wandered back into the room she had come from. "See, I told you he'd be hell in the morning." She told Harry. "How's Draco?"   
  
  
  
"Why didn't you stop them?"  
  
"I tried, Harry, you saw that."  
  
"But I saw you earlier. You're telesenelic or whatever."  
  
Water sighed wearily. "You mean telekinetic. Being able to move things with my mind?" Harry nodded. She sighed again. "Harry, my telekinetic powers are limited at best. Small things, a stake here, a crossbow there, fine. But a fully grown person, trying as hard as hell to get as far away from me as possible... No. Not in this mortal realm. Were we on the immortal planes, where our kind rule over all I could do things of unbelievable power, beyond your mortal comprehension. But when demons, the old ones were driven from this world countless centuries ago, out powers here became mere shadows of their formal selves. One day, you may understand. I did my best for Draco, and I will find those responsible for his attack. I do promise you that." As she spoke her face stared into the distance, beyond Harry, beyond Hogwarts. She glanced at Harry and smiled wryly. "One day." She repeated. "One day."   
  
Sorry this is such a short chapter that's been so long in coming. Read and review and I may consider writing the next one! See you all soon my lovelies. And Lady Allylandra, say hey to Ben for me! (wink wink, nudge nudge!) 


	5. Chapter 5

Ok.. this is the last chapter I posted as NC17. Any further chapters are new. Hope   
  
you all enjoy. Hopefully the formatting worked better this time around, last time it   
  
was all squashed! So review, please!!!!!  
  
Thanks as always to Lady Allylandra and Andrew, the sexiest man on the planet who,   
  
conveniently is also my boyfriend. Love you always babes! Xxx  
  
Harry left Water's rooms thoughtful, trying to understand what she had told him. This   
  
was too much, mortal realms, immortal planes. He wandered slowly to the Great Hall   
  
finally paying attention to the growling of his stomach. A quick glance at his watch   
  
told him it was lunchtime. He'd missed Herbology, he thought dully. Great, how am   
  
I going to explain to Ron and Hermione where I've been all morning? He looked up   
  
at the sound of his name being called. Speak of the Devil and he shall appear, he   
  
thought as Ron and Hermione rounded the corner, worried and pale.  
  
"Harry, where have you been?"  
  
"Why weren't you in the dorm when we woke up?"   
  
" Why weren't you in Herbology this morning, were you ill?"   
  
"You weren't with Malfoy were you?"  
  
The last question, predictably from Ron made Harry look up in surprise. "How'd   
  
you?… Yes I was."   
  
Ron seemed stunned. "Um… Harry, I mean I'm not judging you, but isn't that, you   
  
know, a bit fast?"  
  
Hermione was more blunt. "You didn't. Tell me you didn't sleep with Malfoy after   
  
only deciding you like him for a couple of days. Please tell me that my best friend   
  
isn't a slut."  
  
"What? No, I mean I was with Malfoy, but we didn't, nothing happened, we were in   
  
the hospital wing."  
  
A mixture of relief and concern flitted over Ron and Hermione's faces. "The Hospital   
  
wing?" Harry sighed and proceeded to tell them about the events of last night and this   
  
morning, including his last conversation with Water.   
  
"Wow, that's erm.. not quite what we expected. Is Malfoy going to be ok?" Ron   
  
asked.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey thinks so, they just have no idea who did it."  
  
"Well, it's obvious isn't it? It's got to be one of the Slytherins, after what happened   
  
who else can it be? I mean the teachers must have noticed how they're treating him."   
  
Hermione ventured, frowning in concentration.  
  
"You think wouldn't you?" Harry sighed. "Unfortunately the teachers seem to   
  
follow the muggle idea, innocent until proven guilty. They won't investigate any   
  
specific Slytherins until they have reason to suspect them."  
  
"How about Malfoy, does he know who attacked him?" Ron asked.  
  
Harry frowned thinking back to his conversation with Draco in the hospital wing. "I   
  
don't know, I'll have to talk to him again." He glanced up to see both Ron and   
  
Hermione smiling gently at him. "What?"  
  
"It's sweet really," Hermione said to her boyfriend.  
  
"Nauseous if you ask me," Ron grinned.  
  
"Harry, let the teachers deal with it and pity those on the receiving end of Snape's   
  
wrath!" Hermione told Harry, laughter dancing behind her eyes as she struggled not   
  
to smile.  
  
"And those DADA teachers", Ron shuddered  
  
"Now, as you missed breakfast you must be starving. You are coming with us to the   
  
Great hall now!" Hermione ordered grabbing one of Harry's arms. Ron nodded in   
  
agreement as he seized Harry's other arm and the pair proceeded to haul Harry   
  
between them filling him in on the non-event of the Herbology lesson he'd missed.  
  
Water sat in her room staring at the door Harry had just exited. She didn't bother to   
  
look up as her brother entered the room. "You calmed down yet?" He chuckled   
  
slightly in reply. Turning round to face him she looked reproachfully at him. "It's   
  
not like you to get so worked up about anything like that. What ever happened to   
  
'every argument has two sides' that I normally hear from you and completely   
  
ignore?" Air sat heavily onto the coach in front of her and ran a hand through his   
  
sandy brown hair. He was silent for a long while before he looked up at his sister.   
  
She trapped his gaze in her brilliant emerald eyes and she raised a questioning   
  
eyebrow.   
  
"I guess I just protective of you that's all. I hate the idea of someone gunning for   
  
you. You're my kid sis."  
  
Water rolled her eyes. "Actually we're the same age."  
  
"Details, details." Air waved his hand around, brushing her point away as he would a   
  
fly.  
  
"And secondly, I can look out for myself, it's not like a mortal, human boy could ever   
  
best me!" Air laughed with her. "True, most demons lose out to your bad side."  
  
"What bad side!" Water pretended to be insulted. Her innocent look wilted under his   
  
glare. She grinned at him, her trade mark predatory grin. Before long he was   
  
matching her grin with one of his own. The sight of his grin reminded her painfully   
  
of the way they used to live, a way they could never live again. Part of her missed   
  
those days, free from all the cares the universe had to offer. Now they were renegades   
  
from their own people, hunting down those they once called family. No, not all   
  
demons were evil. Just most of them. It was rare to find a demon turn against evil   
  
and revenge. Anyanka, now known as Anya was a prime example, a demon who had   
  
had to switch sides. Water pitied her in a way the other mortals didn't, she knew of   
  
the struggle Anya had gone through to turn against her former comrades. It was the   
  
same struggle Water, Air, Fire and Earth went through every day.   
  
"Hello, anyone in there?"  
  
Water shook her self slightly. "What?"  
  
Air smiled indulgently. "You were a million miles away. Having fun there?"  
  
She winced. "Not really." She paused. "Would you ever go back? You know, to the   
  
way things were?"  
  
Air sighed. "Yes. And no. We're not those demons any more sis. We never will be,   
  
we've changed. And maybe, even though it's harder, maybe it's for the best."  
  
"Do you blame me?"  
  
"Never."  
  
Giles sat on his desk in the classroom due to be filled with students again in an hour.   
  
That, however, was an hour away and in the meantime he still had a slayer to train.   
  
He watched as Buffy went through the normal routine of kicks and punches against   
  
the huge sandbag hanging from the ceiling. He winced slightly as a final kick ripped   
  
the bag from its hangings. Buffy stepped back before turning to look at him guiltily.   
  
"Oops." Giles sighed. She was still so young. It tore at him every time he put herself   
  
in danger, all in the name of destiny. No body asked her if she wanted to save the   
  
world. Heaven help her, she'd already died twice. He looked at her, standing with a   
  
guilty look on her face. Giving her a small smile he gestured towards the bag. "I   
  
suppose we'd better clean this away before the lesson. Are we clear on the subject   
  
for… Oh, which year group is it?"  
  
"Third year. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff." Buffy smiled fondly. "Giles, please try   
  
and remember some things, you are meant to be the responsible adult of this group. I   
  
mean you're like, old and everything."  
  
Giles nailed her with a glare. "Spike's older than me."  
  
"Spike doesn't count, he's still stuck at 20,21, how old is he?"  
  
"Technically he's 180. As for when he was turned, I have no idea. Early twenties I   
  
would imagine."  
  
"Precisely. That would make him permanently Xander's age."  
  
Giles sighed. "I shudder at the thought."  
  
"I rest my case."  
  
"Why, is it heavy? Hey, G- Man, what's a happenin' you funky party weasel you?"  
  
Buffy laughed as she turned towards the door to see Xander, Anya and Willow   
  
standing there. Xander grinned goofily before enveloping Anya in a bear hug, kissing   
  
her on the cheek. Giles sighed, again. "Xander, I have asked you a thousand times   
  
not to call me that."  
  
"Sure, whatever G- Man."  
  
"Xander." Willow said reproachfully.   
  
"What?! Hey, Buffster, looking good today."  
  
"Thank you." Buffy laughed. "Where's Dawn?"  
  
"Tara's looking after her in Sunnydale. She didn't fancy travelling the Ghost Roads   
  
today. Headache."  
  
"Eew." Buffy shuddered. "The Ghost Roads. Not my favourite way to travel."  
  
"One lapse in concentration and bamn!" Xander exclaimed. "Trapped forever. Or   
  
lost in Timbuktu, with no way of getting home."  
  
"Timbuktu is nice." Anya pouted. "Lots of cheating men, I spent a lot of time there."   
  
She paused. "Of course it may have changed since I was last there."  
  
"Which was?" Buffy prompted.  
  
"Around 300 years ago. I forget exactly. I remember there was this one girl who   
  
wished her husband's heart would explode but he was having dinner with his parents   
  
when she made the wish so the dessert was kinda ruined." Anya paused and looked   
  
around at the suddenly green faces. "What?"  
  
"It is so gross some of the things she does. Xand, tell me she never comes up with   
  
this stuff when we're not talking about demon stuff."  
  
Xander shook his head still looking nauseous. Anya frowned slightly. "Anyway, I   
  
can't understand why you don't like travelling on the ghost roads. Spike and Angel   
  
don't have any problems."   
  
"But you, Spike and Angel are of the super, while we mere mortals are of the   
  
normal." Xander explained.   
  
"I'm mortal now."  
  
"Yes but Anya, you were a demon for 1000 years, you're used to this shit."  
  
"I envy the elementals, they can travel instantly through their elements." Buffy   
  
grumbled.  
  
Willow's eyes widened. "Have you ever seen Water emerge from a tiny drop of   
  
water, it's so freaky? And the way Fire just appears from flames. Ooh and the way   
  
Air kinda looks like a ghost and Earth grows like a really fast tree?"  
  
"Speaking of Earth, where's he been the past couple of days?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Greece."  
  
She turned to Giles in surprise. "How'd you know that?"  
  
"He said he wanted to see how it had changed since he'd last been there and he'd be   
  
back soon. I overheard him tell Air."  
  
"What's with those two?" Xander exclaimed. "They seem inseparable. I thought   
  
they were brothers."  
  
"Pull your mind out of the gutter Xand. Water and Air are brother and sister and Fire   
  
and Earth are brother and sister. Don't ask me why or how it works it just does. Fire   
  
told me." Willow explained.   
  
"But are Air and Earth?…" Xander left the question unspoken.  
  
Willow sighed. "I don't know Xander, I'd imagine so from what the four of them   
  
have said. And the fact they share a bedroom as opposed to the girls who have a   
  
bedroom each in their apartment."   
  
"You dissin' the number of rooms in our apartment?" A slow drawl asked. The   
  
group turned to see a slim young man leaning against the windowsill. A potted plant   
  
had fallen onto the floor, the earth spilling from it. Without breaking their gaze the   
  
young man waved a hand and the earth floated back onto the windowsill. The pot   
  
floated up also and fixed, the plant upright. He grinned, his deep brown eyes   
  
twinkling with good humour. Buffy grinned with him. "Hey Earth, enjoy Greece?"  
  
He scowled momentarily. "Way more tourists than I remember. Tacky." He   
  
brightened again. "Where's Air?" He looked from Buffy to Xander, to the others   
  
with all the hopefulness of a puppy dog. Buffy had to smile. "Come on, I'll show   
  
you, he should be in his room with Water."  
  
"Cool." With that Earth bounded out of the room leaving Buffy to follow shaking her   
  
head in mild amusement. "Be back in a minute guys."  
  
It didn't take long for a routine to establish itself for Harry. Lessons continued, and   
  
Draco healed. That didn't stop Harry worrying about him, or allow him to ignore the   
  
growing attraction he felt for him. He noticed Draco by himself, never with anyone,   
  
especially the Slytherins. Their cold treatment of Draco made everyone   
  
uncomfortable, yet the teachers seemed not to notice. After their exchange in the   
  
sickbay, Harry half expected for a bond to have developed between Draco and   
  
himself. Not the case, Draco had all but ignored him. Harry sighed to himself as he   
  
wandered down the corridor to his DADA lesson. DADA had quickly become one of   
  
his favourite lessons, a view that was held by most of the school. He hadn't enjoyed   
  
it this much since Remus Lupin had taught. These teachers lived up the expectations;   
  
they really knew their stuff. He'd learnt more about demons and fighting in this year   
  
than he'd ever learnt in his life. Plus the homework meant access to the restricted   
  
area of the library, which had nearly caused Hermione to faint with pleasure. He   
  
turned into the door to see most of the DADA teachers standing there. All of them   
  
except Angle and Spike. He frowned, he couldn't remember ever seeing so many of   
  
the teachers together. He took his seat and looked up expectantly. Giles frowned.   
  
"Where's Seamus and Dean?"  
  
"They er… er.. kinda overslept." Ron muttered smirking.  
  
Giles raised his eyebrows. "Really?"  
  
Ron seemed to flounder for a moment, the other Gryffindors trying to suppress their   
  
laughter. Ron was saved however by a blushing Seamus bursting through the door, a   
  
scarlet Dean right behind him. They screeched to a halt, not meeting the teachers'   
  
eyes. Giles looked down and suppressed a smile. "Sit down you two." They   
  
sheepishly sat down at their seats. Earth was grinning broadly and Harry caught him   
  
winking at Seamus and Dean. Giles sighed. "Today we're splitting up into groups.   
  
Pansy, Millicent, Vincent and Gregory, you will be with Fire and Willow." Fire   
  
glared at Giles. Giles continued, "Blaise, Lavender, Parvati and Neville, you'll be   
  
with Buffy and Earth. Hermione, Harry and Draco, you'll be with Water and Xander   
  
and Ron, Dean and Seamus will be with Air and myself." Giles turned away and   
  
Harry barely caught Fire muttering. "If I kill any of them, it will be your fault."  
  
"That's why Willow's with you."  
  
"Air's much calmer than me. Or my brother. I will go CRAZY!" The last word was   
  
said in a strangled hiss. Giles smiled. "Then maybe it will be a good time for you to   
  
learn self control." He turned away and smiled as he heard Fire mutter. "I have self   
  
control."  
  
Harry heard no more as Water snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Ok, you   
  
three, all come and grab this, I've never done this before, so I hope this works."  
  
They clustered around and grabbed hold of the rock she was holding out. As Harry   
  
thought the room began to spin and blur. Suddenly the school disappeared and they   
  
were standing in a muggle shopping centre.   
  
"Hey, Roxanne!"  
  
The call was in Xander's voice, but the name was unfamiliar. He walked toward   
  
Water. "Where are we exactly?"   
  
"A small town in Surrey, a suburb of England, just outside London. Guildford to be   
  
precise. Nice little place, actually. Not bad shopping."  
  
"Roxanne?" Harry asked  
  
Water smiled. "The name I go by in the human world. Water is just a bit strange.   
  
So, Roxanne. Air is Ewan, Earth is Ryan and Fire is Holly. Just makes us blend a   
  
little more."  
  
"So what's the lesson exactly?" Draco asked.  
  
"This is." Xander said simply.  
  
"Look around you." Water said. "What do you see?"  
  
"Muggles." Harry stated.  
  
"Precisely. Look at them, continuing their lives, without a single clue of the danger   
  
that surrounds them. This is what we fight for. The preservation of their innocence.   
  
We all here have been gifted with the powers to help these people. You needed to see   
  
this. Remember what you're fighting for. You're fighting for these people."  
  
"Um… Pro… Roxanne. Muggles isn't just what I see," Hermione ventured, her voice   
  
trembling.   
  
Harry turned to follow her gaze and saw five Dementors gliding towards them………  
  
TO BE CONTINUED ………….. (If enough people review. At least 10 new reviews   
  
please!) 


	6. chapter 6

Hey everyone, I'm back. I know to the R readers I've only just gone, but I was on NC17 so those readers haven't been updated for over a month. (sorry!) anyway, thanks to everyone whose reviewed the story so far, please keep 'em coming! Even if the review just says hi, I've read this!   
  
GundamNymph: Sorry about the long paragraphs, I'll try to keep them short! The Elementals are my original characters. Fire is based solely on one of my best friends Holly, known to you guys as Lady Allylandra, as anyone who knows her will tell you! Some aspects of Water are based a bit on me. As for Buffy/Spike moments, probably not, at least from Buffy's point of view. Remember, me British and out of date! I've only seen up to series 5! The DADA lesson was short as it wasn't crucial to the plot so I decided not to focus on it. (not because I ran out of ideas- honest!) As for the dementors, wait and see!...  
  
Keiyuki: Thanks for giving my fic a try, glad you like it so far! Spike is my fav character from Buffy so how could I not include him?! I agree about the dialogue spacing, but I couldn't be bothered to go back and change the past chapters so I'll just space from now on. Believe me it's better than it was as NC17 when it was compressed into 1 long stream with no breaks!  
  
Hoshiko-Malfoy: Glad you like the title, it becomes very relevant at the end! Of course I'm continuing, I wouldn't be cruel enough to leave it like that!   
  
So, still don't own anything apart from the Elementals, so please don't sue, I'm an impoverished student! Dedications as always to Lady Allylandra and My gorgeous boyfriend Andrew. READ AND REVIEW LADY ALLYLANDRA'S FICS!!! There are 3 Harry Potter ones, harry Potter and the Ring of destiny, The right choice and erm... complications is the third one I think. Also, read HB's original fic Jack Bernman- Marker City Lowlife. It's really good. Now, on with chapter 6....   
  
Previously on Heaven doesn't want me, Hell's afraid I'll take over....  
  
Water and Xander took Harry, Hermione and Draco to a small shopping mall in Guildford, Surrey (aka, the Friary if anyone was wondering) as part of the DADA lesson. However, Hermione has just seen 5 dementors coming towards them...  
  
"Xander, call Fire, tell her to get her butt over here," Water snapped.  
  
"Why, what's going on?" Xander sounded confused.  
  
Water turned, incredulous, "You mean you can't see them?!"  
  
"Of course he can't see them," Draco snapped, "He's only a muggle."  
  
"Hey..." Xander started.  
  
"You two..." the warning in Water's voice was clear. "well, you're lucky Xand, these guys are way off on the ugly chart. Now just call Fire damn it!"  
  
"Why Fire? Why not Buffy? She is the slayer."  
  
"Anyone care to enlighten him?" Water drawled. "About the kiss."  
  
Hermione jumped. "the dementors kiss sucks out a persons soul."  
  
"Which is..." Water prompted  
  
"Precisely what you and Fire don't have!" Xander finished with a smile. "You want me to call Air and Earth as well?"   
  
"Nah, Air will just want to hear their side of the story and Earth will just.... Well, be Earth. He aint big on fighting."  
  
"Right." Xander pulled out a slim cell phone and called Fire. "Hey, Water says get your arse here."  
  
"I said butt, not arse!" Water called over her shoulder where she was keeping an eye on the dementors.  
  
"What ever, does it mean I get to fight something?" a cool voice asked.  
  
Harry turned to see Fire leaning up against a wall, a display of lit candles behind her.  
  
"Them." Water said tersely.  
  
"Cool, I need to kick some butt, those Slytherins...." She growled slightly, shaking her head, sending shots of copper and red through her hair.  
  
Water laughed. "Getting a little hot headed are we?"  
  
"Shut up before I drown you"  
  
Water laughed again and Fire turned and grinned. "Ready?"  
  
"Yep, Xander get the kids to safety. We'll find you after we've had our fun."  
  
With that the two elementals turned to face the dementors floating towards them. The humans, despite not being able to see them, obviously felt their presence. A pair of small children started crying hysterically and a group of teenagers shuddered suddenly. Harry could have watched with fascination but Xander had other ideas. He grabbed Harry's arm in one hand and gave Draco a sharp shove with the other before grabbing Hermione. Harry turned to look behind him and saw Fire create a ball of flames in her hand, which she threw at the nearest dementor. It burst, shrieking into flames. Harry winced at the screams, they sounded like them screams of the damned and echoed throughout the shopping centre. The other four dementors paused while the shoppers stared in horror at the burning mass in front of them. So they can be seen, as they die Harry thought. As Xander turned a corner Harry skidded and fell, knocking Draco, who was running behind him. Draco grabbed Harry in shock and ended up on top of him, gasping in momentary pain. Harry looked up and caught Draco's eyes. Draco was panting hard, his eyes fogged with a mixture of emotions Harry couldn't even begin identify. Ok, hormones, down! We're in a dangerous, could well die kinda situation and you're STILL thinking about how damn fine Draco Malfoy is. You are one sick teenager Harry sighed to himself. Draco raised an elegant eyebrow.   
  
"You know, comfortable as I am lying on top of you wonder boy, we're still facing death by dementors. Or failing that death by two very kick ass demons who will be very pissed off that we didn't follow their instructions and get the hell out of here."  
  
"So you mean we have three choices?" Harry asked grinning slightly.  
  
"Of course, we could stay here and get killed by dementors. We could stay here and get killed by angry demons. Or, alternatively we could get up and survive."  
  
"Er... third option I think, don't you?"  
  
"Glad to see we're on the same wave length."  
  
Draco grinned down at Harry before shifting and standing up. Harry almost groaned out load at the loss of the comfortable weight. He looked up at Draco who was offering him his hand to help Harry up. Grabbing it Harry allowed himself to be hauled up. He held onto Draco's hand for a further moment before letting go, regretfully. Suddenly he staggered feeling a wash of cold sweep over him. From what felt like miles away he heard Draco gasp. Looking up he saw a dementor towering over Draco, reaching menacingly for him. No, I can't let this happen he thought, and tried to stand up straight without shuddering. A load smash thundered through his consciousness and, as suddenly as it had come, the feeling of cold disappeared. He looked up to see Water standing there, bringing her leg down from a kick to the creature's head. The hood had fallen back revealing the dementor's true face.   
  
"Ewww" Water wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "And I thought you guys were ugly with the hoods on."  
  
The dementor pulled back, curling back what had to be a lip, but Harry wasn't to sure. Water took a step back, reaching under her baggy jumper for her belt. Harry saw a flask of silver as she drew a small dagger, with a sharp, cruel looking blade from where she had been hiding it in her belt. She suddenly leapt forward, slamming a kick into the dementor's side. As it staggered off balance she rammed the knife into it's throat, slicing it to the side, decapitating the head.   
  
"Do you think it's dead?" A small voice asked. Harry turned to see Hermione and Xander standing to one side. Hermione looked scared while Xander looked ready to be sick.  
  
"Well, I find cutting the head off usually works to kill most species," Water drawled sarcastically.  
  
"Now that was fun!" Fire called as she wandered up to join the group. She was covered with a thick silver goo and grinning like a maniac. Water grinned as well.   
  
"The killing some evil butt or getting covered with said evils seriously gross goo- blood?" She asked laughing.  
  
"Can't have one without the other!" Fire crowed triumphantly. She turned to Harry, Draco, Hermione and Xander. Her eyes narrowed. "Didn't Water tell you guys to get out of here?"  
  
"Yep, I did."  
  
"Just be very grateful I just killed something." Fire warned. "And hope I don't remember by the time we get back to Hogwarts and the killing high has gone."  
  
Draco sighed and looked and Harry, a glint in his eye. "Guess we're taking death by pissed off demon." Harry nodded.  
  
"Oh yeah"  
  
Yes, this chapter is so short it's disgraceful, but the next one is on its way as we speak, just thought I'd leave it there for now. PLEASE review, need reviews to keep me going! I'll love you forever!! See you soon my darlings!  
  
30.10.02 


	7. chapter 7

Dedications: As always Andrew, who will never get around to reading my work and Lady Al who helps me write it. And hey, updated now so you'd better update your fics soon!!  
  
Guess what? Still don't own Harry Potter or Buffy/Angel. Only the elementals are mine. So don't sue ok, I'm broke enough as it is!!  
  
Cheers to all me reviewers, especially WychFire who sent me the best two pages long review I've ever read! All you guys are the best, need more though!! Honest, it only takes a second and it makes my day!   
  
Chapter 7  
  
Harry followed Water and Fire as they strode towards Dumbledore's office. Without bothering to knock Fire raised one hand and the door flew open. The 2 figures within the room spun towards the door and Harry felt Draco, who was coming up behind him stiffen in shock. Sitting at his desk, was Dumbledore, his customary look of calm innocence etched upon his face. Interrupted mid stride by Fire's entrance was a tall blonde man Harry instantly recognised as Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. Water sauntered into the room and sat lazily on the chair opposite Dumbledore, propping her feet on his desk. The high heels of her boots cracked loudly against the ancient wood, breaking the stunned silence. Turning to Malfoy elder a slow smile curved her lips. Raising an elegant eyebrow she waited for him to acknowledge her presence. As was expected of an aristocrat such as himself Lucius bowed slightly and took her hand. Raising it to his lips he smirked oily.  
  
"Charmed to make your acquaintance miss...?"  
  
"Aqua. Roxanne Aqua," Water purred. Fire rolled her eyes. "Nice to know some things remain consistent."  
  
Water grinned at her. Fire grinned back before continuing. "I'll just fetch the others before I throw up, be right back." Water nodded, already turning her attention back to Malfoy. He smiled at her once more.  
  
"So, what brings a fair beauty such as you self to such a backwards place as this."  
  
"My business is my own Mr Malfoy, surely a gentleman such as yourself should know never to pry into a lady's affairs?" Once again her eyebrow arched in question.  
  
"Of course, forgive me my dear. I was just leaving, Professor Dumbledore has proven most unhelpful." This last statement was spat out with poisonous venom.  
  
"And what may I ask is the dear Professor being unhelpful about?" Water's voice never lost her seductive purr, but Harry saw her eyes glance across at Dumbledore, who met her quick gaze.  
  
"I am simply asking for a wrong to be put right, my son and I have had some disagreements of late and I am asking for some time alone with him at Christmas. A time, surely to be spent among family."  
  
"Mr Malfoy, why don't you give me some time with the Professor, I'm sure I will be able to sort this misunderstanding out." Water smiled softly. "I'll contact you when the decision is made."  
  
"My lady, you are both wise and beautiful, I wish you every success with this old fool." With that Lucius bowed over her hand once more. Harry turned as the door to the headmaster's office opened and all the teachers were standing there, the other elementals barely containing their smirks. Lucius seemed put out by this interruption. "And now my lady, I must take my leave." Water nodded in acknowledgement before Lucius swept out of the room. Water breathed in sharply.  
  
"Albus, if you let Draco go, he'll die"  
  
"Still got it huh girl?" Earth was openly laughing now.  
  
Water grinned, "Had you any doubt?"  
  
Fire snorted in disgust. "How you could do that, I have no idea"  
  
"What? How?" Harry stammered.  
  
"You ever heard of the seductive powers of evil?" Earth asked. Harry nodded dumbly. "Well, it goes like this, beings of weak minds and evil intent are drawn to those of great power, like us."  
  
"So that explains why newborn vampires always try and attack you first?" Buffy asked.  
  
"They're attracted to our auras, for reasons they cannot understand. Older vampires recognise the darkness as a sign of power, but the weak, less experienced are drawn to it like a moth to a flame" Water interjected.  
  
"Precisely." Earth continued. "That lets their guard down, allows them to be manipulated."  
  
"We have telepathic skills anyway," Air added. "We can read what's on your mind, but no deeper than that, it's far too guarded."  
  
"Except, if seduced by our darkness." Fire finished. "Though it is a filthy way to get information, How you can do it so often?" She asked Water who shrugged in reply. "How can you not?" Fire sighed angrily and sat on the chair next to Water, reaching inside her jacket. Drawing out a battered packet of cigarettes she passed one to Spike over her shoulder before lighting one her self. Inhaling deeply she glared at Water, who stared pointedly back  
  
"Anyway," Air interrupted, sensing an argument. "Believe my sister in what she says Albus, she speaks the truth."  
  
"What did you see?" Snape asked Water.  
  
Water shuddered slightly. "Things that will scar me for life. I mean re arrange these words, Voldemort, personal and whore." She pulled a face making gagging noises.  
  
Snape looked nauseous. "I meant, what did you see of any use, not the private life of a deatheater."  
  
Water grinned momentarily before looking grimly at Dumbledore. "Malfoy want Draco home for Christmas to give him one last chance to join with Voldemort. If he refuses he'll be.." She hesitated. "Persuaded until he dies. You cannot agree to this."  
  
"Don't I get a say in this?" Draco sounded remarkably calm under the circumstances.  
  
"And what say would you like to have?" Dumbledore looked solemnly at Draco.  
  
Draco took a deep breath. "I won't join with Voldemort, I was er... kinda put off for life when.." He looked slightly green. "Well, lets just say, what Water said, wasn't exactly a surprise. I know of my father's intimate relations with Voldemort. But maybe, by going home, I can get some information, something that will help us defeat Voldemort once and for all."  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?" Draco looked at Snape. "You did."  
  
"This is a completely different situation, you have not done anything wrong, I on the other hand..." Snape tailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.  
  
"I'll do it." Water sighed. "I'll screw the bad guys, get the info."  
  
Fire curled up her lip in disgust, stubbing out her cigarette onto Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore looked bemused at Water. "And what makes you think you will get into the Malfoy manor?"  
  
Water shrugged. "I'll offer to accompany Draco, that way I can make sure he's safe." She smiled slightly. "And I don't think it will take much to persuade a weak minded fool, no offence Draco, to allow me in."  
  
"Why?" McGonagall seemed sceptical. Water dropped her gaze for the first time. "We all got something to atone for." She muttered while the other elementals looked at her sharply. Dumbledore smiled benignly, "My dear, you are quite sure what it is you are undertaking."  
  
"Quite sure, I will owl Malfoy Manor immediately, Christmas is only a week away. I will tell Lucius that Draco may go home for a few days, and that I would be honoured to accept his invitation to stay as well."  
  
"What invitation?" Hermione asked.  
  
"The one he offered me just now," Water grinned evilly. "I love manipulating the weak minded, never get tired of it."   
  
"Very well, you may send one of the school owls." Dumbledore closed the matter with a finality that alarmed Harry. Water turned to go before a cough from Xander reminded her why they had come to Dumbledore's office to begin with. "Oh yeah, almost forgot, we encountered some dementors in the Friary Centre, killed them though, don't worry." McGonagall made a strangled noise in the back of her throat. Dumbledore sat up sharply. "Dementors?"  
  
"Real ugly things with cloaks try and suck out your soul. Yep, pretty sure they were Dementors" Fire said sharply.  
  
Water frowned. "Sweetie, you've been hanging with me too long, you're starting to steal my sarcastic streak."  
  
"Don't worry, I'll never develop your slut streak."  
  
"I'm not even going to answer that, there are too many names I could mention."  
  
Fire simply looked at Water. "Babes, you're planning on sleeping with a mortal to get info. I think that qualifies you way more than me in the slut department."  
  
"Aww, come on, it's been ages since I had a good screw. Or any kind of screw come to think about it. Give me a break ok?"  
  
"Fine," Fire muttered. "Slut."  
  
Water glared at Fire. Air simply rolled his eyes and looked across at Earth. "You ever feel like some kind of referee with these two?"  
  
"Ever? Try all the time! Damn, you two need to sort out your political differences. These guys will think you hate each other or something."  
  
Water and Fire both looked surprised. "We don't hate each other," Water sounded bewildered.  
  
"Nah, I love this girl, she's like my sister." Fire responded.  
  
"And we look out for each other, you know."  
  
"Precisely. I mean, I'm just worried Water will get hurt that's all."  
  
"Aww, thanks babes, nice to know you care," Water grinned, Fire grinned back.  
  
"Much as I hate to brake up this Hallmark moment, can we please focus before I loose my lunch?" Spike drawled. Harry was suddenly reminded of Draco as he stared at the blonde vampire. He had lit another cigarette and was handing one to Fire, who clicked her fingers sending a shot of flame towards the ceiling. Using it to light her cigarette she inhaled deeply. "You just have no soul."  
  
"Neither do you guys, but that doesn't seem to stop you."  
  
"Anyway," Water interrupted. "Dementors, evil, kill, kill, kill. Don't worry we handled it."  
  
"We kicked their ugly arses!" Fire exclaimed. Water grinned. "Yeah, that was fun. Very cool."   
  
Buffy smiled indulgently. "Remind me to take you guys on patrol with me more often, you need to fight more."  
  
"Just say the word!" Fire half yelled.  
  
"And bring us with you!" Earth looked like an excited puppy; hope gleaming in his deep brown eyes. Air reached over and hugged the smaller man, who smiled back at him.   
  
"I'll interrupt now, you two go get a room!" Xander exclaimed.   
  
The two male elementals laughed. "As you asked so nicely," Earth said, right before he left the room, dragging Air behind him.  
  
Water sighed. "Well, that's them busy for the next few hours. Fire and me will fill them in later."   
  
Dumbledore chuckled. "Very well, I think that is all for now. Water if you would care to make arrangements for visiting the Malfoy's with Draco. As for the rest of you I think that is all for now. The dementors were an unexpected development, but none the less it was coped with very well. I shall be contacting our magical allies to update them on this. Harry, do you have any message for Remus Lupin and Snuffles when I owl them?"  
  
Harry blinked, surprised. "No professor, just send them my best. I'll owl them myself if there is anything else."  
  
"Very well. Mr Giles if you would care to contact your people in Los Angels I'm sure they would be most interested to gear of this development."  
  
"Sure," Xander interjected. "I mean, we have no problem facing the dementors, we just send Cordy after them while we all go get pizza!"  
  
Harry looked around them room. Everyone else save the DADA teachers looked mystified. Everyone else was smiling with glee. Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Quite. Now I believe we all have lessons to go to, that will be all."  
  
Everyone slowly filed their way out of Dumbledore's office. Harry tried to catch Draco's eyes. He seemed paler than normal, staring at the floor. Harry felt a surge of panic at the thought of what Draco was going to do. Spend time at Malfoy Manor, was Dumbledore insane? Draco would get himself killed. Harry wasn't sure how he managed to stumble his way to potions, or survive the entire lesson with Snape bearing down on him throughout. He remembered Ron and Hermione's worried gazes and Pansy's sneering laughs as Snape took 10 points from Gryffindor for not paying attention. After what felt like a lifetime Harry finally managed to collapse in the Common room with the others. He sat dully as Hermione filled the others in on what had happened in Dumbledore's office.   
  
"Is Draco insane?" Ron exclaimed.   
  
"What about Water's sanity, or Dumbledore's for letting them?" Dean added, drawing Seamus close. Seamus put a comforting arm around Dean. "I'm sure it will be ok," He said, the paleness of his face betraying the confidence of his voice. "Water will protect Draco. You know how powerful she is. They'll both be fine." Harry nodded dumbly. He couldn't speak. Ron bit his lip and whispered into Hermione's ear. She nodded and stood up, motioning for the others to go with her, leaving Ron alone with his best friend.   
  
"Harry?" Harry looked up for the first time since leaving Dumbledore's office. Ron sighed. "Seamus is right you know, it'll be ok. Ma..Draco will be ok."  
  
Harry smiled at Ron's slip. He appreciated Ron calling Draco by his first name. "But Ron, what if it's not? Draco's already been hurt once this term, and the ones who did it haven't been caught. What if something else happens? What if Draco dies without me ever telling him how I..." He stopped sharply.  
  
"Without telling him how you feel?" Ron smiled sadly as Harry looked away. "Then maybe you should get the guts to tell him. Harry, I don't pretend to understand why he hell, of all the guys at Hogwarts you had to fall for him, but you have and I accept that. And if something happens and Draco never finds out how you feel, you will regret that for the rest of your life. I mean, if you tell him, what's the worst that could happen?"  
  
"He hates me and never comes near me again except to make fun of me," Harry mumbled.   
  
"So what's new there?"   
  
Harry smiled. "You're right, I should tell him, convince him not to go to the Malfoy Manor."  
  
"Totally. I mean, don't ever repeat this, he's not that bad when he's not being such an arse!"  
  
"Ronald Weasley, was that you just admitting that you don't find Draco that bad?" Harry grinned.  
  
"You ever repeat that and I will curse you into a rat and make you spend the rest of your life as my pet to be used in any experimental spells I have to do."   
  
Harry laughed. "Your secret dies with me."  
  
"Good, now bed? I'm exhausted, been a long day."  
  
"Giles and Air hard task masters?" Harry asked, referring to the DADA lesson that seemed like a life time ago, but had in fact only been this morning.  
  
Ron groaned. "You have no idea. Scary thing is how much Giles reminds me of Mione. Damn!"   
  
Harry laughed. "Come on then, we have Care of magical creatures tomorrow, if you're too tired you're likely to lose something. Like a limb."  
  
The boys both went up to their room, Harry resolving to talk to Draco at the nearest opportunity. To his dismay however the week leading up to Christmas and Draco's imminent departure fled by without a single chance to speak to Draco alone. Before he knew it, it was the morning he'd been dreading. Draco would leave in less than an hour to go home.   
  
Harry woke in a panic, and ran, heedless of his roommates' sleepy amazement to entrance Hall where Draco was waiting to leave.  
  
"Draco." He turned at the sound of his name being called. A small smile curved his lips as he saw the famous Harry Potter standing at the top of the staircase staring pitifully down at him.   
  
"Couldn't let me leave without saying good bye, Potter?" He drawled.  
  
You don't have to do this." Draco tried not to gulp as Harry came slowly down the stairs. The concern in his green eyes burned into Draco, who looked away.  
  
"I don't expect you to understand."  
  
"Please don't do this." The pleading in Harry's voice almost brought tears to Draco's eyes. He smiled ruefully. Leaning forward he placed the softest of kisses on Harry's mouth. As Harry gasped he pulled back slightly. "See you when I get back."  
  
Hehehe, I love leaving things on a cliffhanger! What will happen to Draco? What was meant by that kiss? Will Water sleep with Lucius? Well, as I already have about half of the new chapter written up you won't have long to find out....if enough people review. Don't ya'll just love blackmail! So go on, I feed reviews to my muse fairy, Rhianne who gives me all my ideas, and she needs reviews to survive! All flames go to my muse gremlin Elvis, who is the demon inside my computer, and creates havoc. Love you all! 


	8. chapter 8

Note for readers on ff.net: I'm back again having been removed. I thought I'd repost the previous chs, plus the new one and the information that if I'm removed again I'm also on adultfanfiction.net and duowolf.crosswinds. Hopefully enough of you will get this before I'm removed again. Cos, if I'm removed again I'm going to give up ever trying to post on this site. So, if you like the fic, check out the other 2 sites. Thanks my darlings, don't forget to review!  
  
Heya I'm back! Don't own 'em yet, so blah blah blah! Anyway folks, just like to introduce you to mine and lady Allylandra's muses! Firstly, you've met Elvis already, he's a gremlin who used to live inside my computer, but now seems to have moved to Lady Al's laptop. (Serves her right for having a laptop while I have this evil huge machine!) Then there's Rhianne, who I mentioned in the last chapter, my faerie, who comes up with all the good ideas. Then there's Kira, an evil pixie, who's moved in since Elvis moved. Right now she's bugging me to do a different Harry/Draco fic that's not a crossover. And she keeps picking on Rhianne. Sorry if their fights butt in every now and then, or if Elvis pops up at all. Finally there's Clyde, the dragon who lives in the airing cupboard. Lady Al is looking up exactly which breed he is, but he keeps nicking my socks!   
  
And, while I'm doing introductions, meet WychFire, my fab new beta reader, so no more spelling/grammar mistakes I hope. Plus, the story flows so much better now, so full credit where it's due! It's not all me folks!!  
  
Loads of people asked me how come Harry didn't defeat the Dementors with a Patronus. Well, Fire and Water were gagging for a fight, and would you really want o tell them otherwise?! Plus Harry is too busy angsting about Draco to think up a happy thought!! Happy now? No it had nothing to do with the fact I forgot about the Patronus, I resent that accusation! Ok? Good. Also, no I didn't forget that Lucius is married. But how can Narcissa possibly compete with Water? I mean, it's not like Lucius really has any choice in the matter! Besides, Water is way sexier and more powerful than Narcissa.  
  
Hehe, now on with chapter 8:  
  
(Previously on Heaven, Hell etc (bored of writing the whole title!))  
  
Lucius Malfoy demanded that Draco be allowed home for Christmas. Water warned everyone that Draco would die if he went. When Draco insisted on going Water agreed to go with him to protect him. Harry couldn't let Draco go without telling him how he felt and Draco gave him a good-bye kiss...  
  
Draco settled back into the luxurious black velvet cushions of the carriage he and Water were riding in. It was being pulled by a magnificent jet black Pegasus, who was dragging them across the British skies. Draco glanced across at Water who was staring out of the window thoughtfully. She looked fantastic, wearing black trousers and a black corset with a full-length black leather coat down to her boots. Her long curls were tied up around her head, a few escaping to frame her face. A silver dragon hung from a black leather choker around her neck. She definitely knew his father's tastes, Draco decided. She looked strong and dangerous, his father wouldn't be able to resist. His mother would be a problem however. Narcissa Malfoy kept her husband on a very tight rein; Water would have a hard job getting Lucius alone.   
  
Water looked at Draco as he sighed. "You ok?"  
  
Draco started. "Just thinking. It feels strange to be going home."  
  
"Nervous?"  
  
"A bit. My parents and I didn't exactly part on good terms."  
  
"You'll be fine, just relax. Even if I wasn't around you're still a good wizard Draco. You would be able to take care of your self."  
  
Draco grinned wryly.  
  
"Besides," Water continued. "You got me around, so if anyone comes near you I'll kick their arse!"   
  
Draco laughed. "You know how to make a guy feel better." He drawled, sounding more like himself.  
  
Water gave him a sly grin. "But I don't think it's me you want to make you feel better."  
  
Draco tried to look confused and innocent, but wilted under Water's glare. "That obvious huh?"  
  
"Blinding."  
  
Draco lowered his eyes. "I kissed him this morning." He mumbled.  
  
"About bloody time!" Water stated. "So, what happened? Give me some goss!"  
  
"You're my teacher."  
  
"So, still wanna know! I can't help it if I'm nosey! Besides, I'm good with the whole advice thing, I mean, do you know how much effort went into Air and Earth dragging their heads out of the sand and realising they actually like each other?! I don't think me and Fire ever worked so hard in our existences!"  
  
Draco laughed again. "Fine, I guess there's no harm you knowing, I mean you already know how I feel about him."  
  
"How exactly?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"How exactly do you feel about him?"  
  
Draco sighed. "I love him. He occupies my every waking moment and then I dream about him at night. I've never felt like this before, so passionately about anything, even Quiddich. I mean, take when I woke up in the hospital wing a month or so back, after I got beaten up. My first thought was wondering if he was ok, did the bastards get him. Only after I saw he wasn't hurt did I suddenly notice the blinding pain I was in!"   
  
Water winced. "Yep, you're in love with him."  
  
"Now though," Draco continued. "I don't know what to do. I mean I kissed him! It was everything I ever dreamed but what do I do now?"  
  
"Well, it's obvious he's in love with you. At least, he's blatantly attracted to you and Harry doesn't seem the type for casual affairs. So, I would guess that he's in love with you too. So what's the problem?"  
  
"Oh, you mean besides the fact we have spent the past 5 years hating each other and trying our best to get each other expelled? Oh, and the fact he's a Gryffindor and I'm a Slytherin?" Draco sighed bitterly. "I'm an outcast among Slytherins as it is, imagine what would happen if they found out I am in love with the Golden Boy!"  
  
"Why is it any of their business?"  
  
"I'm still in Slytherin House, I still have to share a dorm room with them."  
  
Water grinned. "Draco, are you honestly telling me that Crabbe and Goyle are intelligent enough to actually do something to hurt you?"  
  
Draco laughed humourlessly. "Well, when you put it like that!"  
  
"That's my boy, you're better than them. And I'm sure Harry will talk the other Gryffindors into sticking up for you."  
  
"So now I've just got to survive the next couple of days huh?"  
  
"Yep, starting from now. We're here."  
  
The carriage slowly descended over Malfoy manor where Narcissa and Lucius were waiting to greet them. Swooping down in a graceful arc, the black Pegasus glided in and set gently upon the drive with the merest whisper of crunching gravel, carefully placing the carriage in the perfect position for the House Elf waiting to open the carriage door.  
  
Water alighted into the freezing winter air and was met be Narcissa's equally icy gaze. She was hard pressed not to show her amused grin. Lucius had obviously not told his wife to expect her arrival. Narcissa's lips had tightened angrily, her face pale.  
  
"And you are?" Her voice was frosty.  
  
"Roxanne Aqua." Water purred. She watched Lucius almost melt at the sound of her voice. Narcissa seemed ready to explode.  
  
"Aqua, I've never heard of your family," She sneered. "I assume you are of pure blood?"  
  
"Indeed madam, my name is older than any of you could know. It doesn't surprise me that you haven't heard of it before, I'm not originally from around here, but from somewhere very far away." Water replied smoothly.  
  
"So what brings you here?" The question was sharp.  
  
"Many reasons, none of which are your concern." Water spoke with a finality that seemed to subdue Narcissa. She opened her mouth to reply when she was interrupted by house elf announcing dinner. Taking swift control of the situation she swept into the dining hall, Lucius following meekly behind her. Water was intrigued by their behaviour. By all accounts Lucius was the powerful one in the relationship. This was clearly wrong. To what extent did Lucius have any choice in how his life was run, Water pondered, making a mental note to probe his mind for that information later in the evening, as she and Draco also went into the dining hall. She almost crashed into Draco as he froze at the entrance. Water looked over his shoulder. Sitting at the head of the table was Lord Voldemort.  
  
Narcissa sauntered back towards Water. "I don't believe you've met our dark Lord. He is.."  
  
"The One who must not be named, you know who. Voldemort, yes I know who he is," Water drawled, taking her seat. Her dark sea green eyes met Narcissa's crystal blue orbs defiantly. Narcissa turned away, unable to hold the gaze. Water leaned back, quietly confident. Emboldened by her attitude Draco also sat down, a few seats from his father, who sat at Voldemort's right hand. Narcissa took Voldemort's other side. Dinner conversation made Water unsure whether or not to die with boredom or laugh at its stupidity. Narcissa dominated the table with loud words about her own opinions. Voldemort said nothing, but kept a constant gaze on Draco. Inevitably, the conversation turned towards power.   
  
"Of course, I never go anywhere without my wand," Narcissa announced, drawing it from the sleeve of her dress. "Miss Aqua, I see you are without yours, I would hate to be so unprepared." The sneer was apparent in her voice. Draco looked up with interest. Water glanced around. All eyes were upon her, Voldemort tearing his hungry gaze from Draco for the first time all evening. Water simply smiled and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I believe that dependence on one item displays weakens of an unforgivable nature. To own a wand is foolishness. For what would happen if you were to loose it?" With that she stretched out her hand and Narcissa's wand flew from her grasp and into Water's fingers. She sat back twirling the wand between her fingers. Amid Lucius and Draco's amazed gasps was Voldemort's roaring laughter.   
  
"My dear, I like your style." He said silkily. "Please, do demonstrate more of your power."  
  
Water looked around the room. Seeing into the corner she grinned evilly. "Why Mr Pettigrew, aren't you supposed to be dead?" The small man started and began to shrink into the darkness. A glint appeared in Water's eye and she muttered under her breath. Suddenly there was a flash of light and Wormtail disappeared, his clothes collapsing in a heap. A small rat appeared from the folds. Voldemort laughed again. "Delightful my dear, simply delightful. Lucius, why did you not tell us you had invited such an amusing guest?"   
  
As Lucius squirmed under his Lord's and his wife's questioning gaze Water caught Draco's eyes. He was grinning at her in awed respect. She winked at him and muttered again, to distract attention from Lucius. Wormtail reappeared, trembling and naked. He whimpered and gathered up his clothes. As he turned to leave Voldemort's sing song voice called out.   
  
"Wormtail, I don't believe I gave you permission to leave. Clear away the dishes."  
  
Wormtail tried his best to carry out the plates while still covering his modesty. As expected, he failed and Water inwardly winced at his humiliation. Then she shrugged. Oh well, she thought, serves him right for being a weak minded little shit. Now though to put her reason for being here into action. She yawned loudly.   
  
"I must apologise, travelling has taken a lot out of me." She raised her eyes and caught Lucius's gaze. "Would you be kind enough to show me to my room and help me settle in?" She purred. Narcissa opened her mouth to protest, but the was amazed when her husband beat her to it.  
  
"Of course," he breathed and rose. Taking Water's hand he led her up several staircases. Water noted with interest the worn appearance of much of the furniture. Finally he came to a stop outside a large mahogany door. "This is your room."  
  
"And where do you sleep?" Water asked.  
  
"My room is on the floor above."  
  
"With Narcissa?" The question was innocent enough.  
  
Lucius dropped his gaze. "No, she sleeps at the opposite end of the Manor, her room is next to the Lords."  
  
Water smiled seductively. "I was hoping you would say that. Would you like to join me?"  
  
Lucius nodded dumbly and followed Water as she took his hand and led him into the room.  
  
Seemed like a suitable place to stop for now, next chapter is all planned out. So Review my darlings PLEASE!!!!! Rhianne cannot work without them! 


	9. chapter 9

Well, aint ya'll just fab!! You know how to make a depressed author feel better! I'm quite moved! Anyway, on with a couple of questions posed to me by all you wonderful reviewers:  
  
Rebecca: I'm not sure about any pairings with Buffy, remember she's 21 and Oliver Wood is gone by now, this is their 6th year. The oldest that's not a teacher would be 18. Plus, who's left out of regular characters? But I have my fabulous beta on the case so we'll have to wait and see.  
  
TigerBlak: Thanks for the 3 (!) Reviews. Yes my fic was on ff.net before it was removed the first time by the evil removal of NC17. Then I re posted it as R but it was removed again as it "infringed guidelines" If you can find which one, you're smarter than me, Lady Allylandra, WychFire and Andrew, who have all looked and can't find what it is I've done. So I'll post it once more to tell readers there that I'm also here, on the fantastic aff.net! Hey, the Elementals were never in any Angel show, they are mine!!! The only bit of the fic that is mine!! So use 'em and I'll sue! And, well, that's cliffhangers for ya! I know, I'm evil but I have to keep you in suspense! Only 3 people have any idea about what's going to happen and that's me, Lady Al and WychFire. And I'm the only one who knows the whole thing. And that's how it's gonna stay!!  
  
Massarokas I can identify with Water too (well, she is based on me!) I'm a Cancer sign, which, makes me a Water sign and I'm so typical of the element. Not to boast but I have the best intuition of anyone I know. Plus that sarcastic streak is pure me! Fire, in case anyone didn't know IS Lady Al. End of story. And, didn't anyone ever tell you my dear that patience is a virtue?! There will be some lovely little scenes with Harry/Draco and some with Water/Lucius and a couple of others, making this story more than worthy of it's NC17 rating. But these things take time, and this is a story not a PWP. I have to develop it before the jump into bed and shag like rabbits!  
  
Anon. I've been thinking about setting up Xander with a guy, if not in this one then in the sequel. (Yes folks, I'm planning on a sequel!) And there will be Harry/Draco soon I promise!!  
  
Queen of Curses: yep, I remember you on ff.net! I love Air and Earth. Unlike the other two they're not based on anyone I know, but I do plan to have more of them in the near future. (wow, is it just me or am I creating loads of work for myself?! Oh well, my teachers will just have to suffer!)  
  
Think that's all the questions answered. Thanks also to ANGELa, another 2 Anons Snapdragongrrl, ShiSaiyan, *aMbEr*, MeOnly, COOKE and DarJar for reviewing. You made my day and kept Rhianne well fed as evidenced by this new chapter!  
  
By the way, I thought I'd just clarify timings a bit. I still haven't seen any of the 3rd series of Angel, plus they don't really feature here so everything's as it was at the end of season 2. As for Buffy, the beginning of season 6 is as it is, Buffy is all angsty about dying and everything, but the Elementals appear sometime before the Musical episode (how will become clear as time goes on). Ok, I think that works. Hmm, hope so, I don't want this to be too AU plus I just love Once more with Feeling and really want it in there somewhere. But as for Buffy/Spike, sorry people but no, don't like it, plus I have some one else for Spike. A couple of some ones actually.   
  
Thanks and dedications as always to WychFire, my fab beta reader, Lady Al and Andrew.  
  
Previously:  
  
Water and Draco have gone to Malfoy Manor for Christmas only to discover they're not the only guests. The one and only evil Lord Voldemort is also there, along with Pettigrew. Water speeds up her plan to get information from Lucius and invites him into her room for the night...  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Water turned to face Lucius. He trembled slightly as he came towards her. Deftly guiding him further into the room she stepped back and quietly locked the door behind her. Turning to face Lucius once more she smiled gently and ran a hand down the side of his face. His eyes closed as he lent into the touch. She leaned forward and softly kissed him. She stayed close, her lips barely brushing his, until he opened his mouth to her and let her tongue slide slowly within. He grabbed her suddenly, urgently, and held her close, kissing her with a hungry passion that made her gasp. As he pulled away to breathe she grinned at him. "Nice kiss!" He smiled, somehow bashful, before drawing away slightly.   
  
"Where are you going?"   
  
He stopped uncertain. Slowly she pushed him onto the huge velvet chair, placed at the end of the bed. He stared at her in silent awe. She reached a hand up and took out the silver comb from her hair, letting the curls fall down in hypnotic waves. He raised his hand to slide his fingers through the thick dark locks. Water grinned lazily, allowing herself to be drawn closer to him. One toned leg was swung over Lucius's lap and she straddled him, slipping her hands over his long ice blond hair. Running gentle kisses down the side of his neck, she reached behind her to undo the knots keeping her corset in place. Twisting nimble fingers round the ribbons she swiftly removed the tight garment, revealing her firm breasts. As Lucius leaned forward to run his tongue over her she slid her hands over his cloak, slowly undoing everything until it fell back against the chair. She thought about giving him a love bite, marking him as her territory as she would normally do with any lovers. However, she dismissed the idea. She had to keep this secret from Voldemort who would undoubtedly notice if his whore wore another's mark.   
  
She leaned forward and grabbed Lucius's hands, pulling him upright as she stood gracefully, her lithe body as flexible as a cat. Before he had much chance to react she stripped him of his remaining clothes. Admiring his handsome body with its erection standing proudly she then took off her own trousers and boots. Still Lucius stared dumbly. For fucks sake she thought, does this guy have any reactions? What do I have to do here? Shrugging mentally she reached up and captured his mouth with hers, pulling him back with her towards the bed. Screw foreplay she thought, don't have the time or the patience. Despite the nature of the seduction she was incredibly horny. It had been too long since she'd had anyone, mortal or not.   
  
She twisted around until she was facing the bed with Lucius in front of her. She pushed him down and climbed on top of him. Looking into his eyes, dark with naked longing she gently lowered herself onto him. Damn, you've got to say one thing about mortals, nice size! She waited for a moment to get used the hugeness inside her. If Draco has inherited this from his father Harry is one hell of a lucky guy she inwardly grinned. As she steadied herself to move she as thrown off balance by Lucius's impatient thrust upwards. He'd suddenly come alive and was breathing heavily with desire. Good thing physically but as Water gently probed his mind she found his defences up. Oh well, too bad she thought. Guess I'll just have to concentrate on good sex tonight and get the info I need another time. With that in mind she grinned at Lucius who thrusted upwards again. She grabbed both his hands and pinned him down. She would be in control of this she thought as she began to ride him, slowly at first, teasing him, before moving into a faster rhythm. As she began to enjoy herself she slowly relaxed, loosening her grip on his hands. Suddenly he flipped her over so he was on top and began pounding into her, his passion almost savage in its ferocity. Water gasped both with pleasure and amazement as images poured like a waterfall from his mind into hers until his memories blurred with hers and she couldn't tell them apart. As for the pleasure, well she was a demon! While most mortals would be in screaming pain, she was loving it, demons were like that, pleasure and pain mingling together, becoming one. She came with an intensity that shocked her as Lucius collapsed on top of her, also spent. He was one talented lover she thought wryly. I could get used to this. She leaned across and gently kissed him, sending magick through the connection. As planned he fell instantly asleep and she wandered over to the window, trying to understand the images and memories tumbling around her consciousness.   
  
Harry wandered aimlessly through the castle, his mind on Draco and the kiss of that morning. What had it meant, he wondered? Did it mean that Draco did have feelings for him? He groaned, frustrated. Now he wasn't even sure if he would ever see Draco again. His father could do anything to him before his return. How could he spend the next few days worrying? Suddenly a thought came to him. With a renewed determination he turned and headed down the corridor towards the DADA classroom. Reaching the ancient oak door he paused, hearing voices inside.   
  
"'Ello 'Arry, what you doin' 'ere?"  
  
Harry turned to see the towering form of Hagrid standing behind him. His face was hidden by the huge pile sticks he was carrying.  
  
"I was just seeing if any of the teachers were around" Harry grinned at his friend.  
  
"Well, seeing as you are 'ere maybe you can open this door for me? Me hands are a bit full right now."   
  
Harry opened the door and held it open for Hagrid to fit through. He had to turn sideways to fit his bulk and ended up dropping many of the sticks among many "oh dears." Harry followed him in, picking up the sticks as he went. He looked up to see Hagrid put the pile down by Fire, Buffy and Willow who were sitting on the desks.  
  
"Thanks Hagrid," Buffy smiled warmly. "Hey Harry, you ok?"  
  
"Well, I'll be seeing yous lot later." And with that Hagrid rumbled out the room.   
  
Willow winced. "It is going to take us forever to get through this lot."  
  
His curiosity piqued Harry asked, "What are you doing?"  
  
"Carving stakes." Buffy leaned forward and grabbed one of the sticks. It fitted neatly in her hand as she tested the weight. She reached behind her and brought out a small dagger. Drawing it close to the stake she ran the blade over the last inch or so of the end, cutting into the side. Slicing it away from her she twirled the stake around as she cut. Before long the end was carved into a sharp point. She held it up proudly. "See"  
  
"Most of the time any bit of broken wood will do," Willow commented, reaching for a stake of her own, another dagger already in her hand. "But it's nice to have something on you that you'll know will do the job."  
  
"Wanna help?" Buffy asked. "I think it's kinda therapeutic."  
  
Harry shrugged absently and picked up a stake. Buffy drew out another dagger, flipping it over in her hand so she gripped it by the blade. Leaning forward she handed the ornately carved handle to Harry. He ran a light finger over it, picking out the intricate details. He looked up to see Buffy smiling softly.   
  
"Beautiful isn't it? It's part of Giles' personal collection. Most of these knives are. He's got a great collection." She grinned wryly. "Comes in very handy whenever we need to kill yet another demon."  
  
"What's that like?" Harry asked, glad for a momentary distraction from his worry about Draco.   
  
Buffy looked wistful for a moment while Willow glanced at her in concern. "Tiring. And it never stops; you get night after night of having to fight for your life. The world is always about to end. We've stopped, how many Apocalypses now?" She turned to Willow.  
  
Willow frowned. "Well, we've had the Master, the Judge, Acathla.."  
  
"Wait, you've faced Judge? And Acathla?," Fire interrupted.  
  
"Yeah, why?" Buffy asked.  
  
Fire remained quiet for a moment, conflict clearly showing across her face. Buffy frowned in concern. "You ok." Harry leaned forward in interest. Fire shook her head slightly.   
  
"I'm fine. It's just...I knew those guys, that's all."  
  
Buffy blinked. "You knew the Judge? And Acathla?"  
  
Fire turned away. "It was a long time ago." She murmured. "Excuse me." With that she stood and swiftly left the room, her hair flashing as she moved.  
  
"Wow, that was weird." Buffy looked at Willow for conformation. Willow frowned in concentration.   
  
"Well, this certainly deepens the mystery about those guys. How old are they? 'Cause the Judge and Acathla are really, really old. And both lay dormant for ages before Spike and Drusilla awoke them."  
  
"How old are we talking about here?" Buffy's voice shook slightly.  
  
Willow looked grim. "Several millennia at least."  
  
Buffy winced. "Anyway, Harry, why did you come to see us?"  
  
Harry jumped; he'd become so engrossed in watching events unfold before him that he'd forgotten that he'd come with a reason.  
  
"I was just wondering if anybody's heard from Water and Draco?"  
  
Buffy smiled knowingly. She looked across at Willow who matched her smile. Allowing the smile to fade a bit she shook her head. "No, but we weren't really expecting anything. Best to let Water get on with what she has to. Draco will fine." Harry nodded his head miserably; he had so wanted to know if Draco was all right. Buffy looked sympathetic. "It's only for a couple of days Harry. He'll be back before you know it." Harry nodded again, no hint of a smile reaching his face. Buffy sighed and looked across at Willow who shrugged helplessly. "Listen, I know we didn't set any homework over the Christmas break so why don't you help us research the latest demon to hit Sunnydale. Pretty vicious, been targeting young guys, decapitating them and stuff. Could be fun"  
  
A shadow of a grin spread across Harry's face. "Only if I can bring Hermione. If she ever found out that I had access to loads of creepy old books without her there I think she would kill me."  
  
Buffy laughed. "Believe me, once you've spent a few solid nights researching several gruesome demons, it kinda loses it's thrill!"  
  
"Oh, I don't know, it can be fun, you learn loads of cool stuff. Like spells to turn your enemies inside out and stuff!" Willow exclaimed, the classic smile of geeker joy lighting up her face. Buffy grinned at her friend's enthusiasm. "Listen, why don't you get Hermione and we'll meet in Giles' office, it's just down the Hall." Harry nodded and turned to leave. Pausing by the door he looked over his shoulder at the two girls. "Thanks."  
  
It should have been a dark and stormy night. If this had been a film the special effects department would be sorting out large forks of lightning to be flashing across the sky while the rain pelted down against the stonewalls. As it was Water was still staring out of the window on a strangely quiet night, watching the frost form on the grass outside. The sky was clear, not even a hint of a dark cloud marring the stars. She smiled softly. Sometimes dramatic effect is just not there she thought wryly. She looked away from the amazing view outside towards Lucius, still asleep on the bed. She stood, her movements lacking some of her usual grace. The frost outside slowed her down, she could feel herself getting heavier, solidifying, as the water in the river outside stopped flowing as it turned to ice. She hated the cold. While she would not turn to a block of ice like the water outside she could feel the loss of graceful water, running free. She shuddered, closing her eyes as she stumbled slightly towards the bed. Feeling with her hands she gently lowered herself onto the silk bed sheets. Swinging her legs around so she could draw her knees up to her chin she sat there for a moment. There was something nagging at the side of her mind, something she could not quite pin down. While she had ignored it while thinking about what Lucius had unknowingly revealed to her, it now pressed against her conscious, refusing to give her peace. Drawing in a deep breath she rose, mentally fighting the effects of the ice. She reached into her bag, still lying there at the foot of the bed where the house elf had left it. She pulled out the elegant silk robe that looked fantastic but was no good at keeping the cold out. Not that she had any clothes suitable for keeping the cold out. Demons were always lacking in the practicality streak. Guess it leaves more room for the vindictive streak, Water mused. Pulling on the robe she opened the huge door to her room. It creaked loudly and she turned, looking worriedly at Lucius. But the effects of her spell stayed and he remained asleep.   
  
Once outside, the door safely closed behind her she took a moment to appreciate the dark beauty of the mansion. She fitted in here she thought, looking at the elegant weapons and suits of armour that served as decoration. She shook her head to clear her mind and followed her own advice, given to Harry a couple of months ago. Stretching out with her conscious she pinpointed the location of the problem. With a small gasp she realised it came from Draco's rooms. Muttering under her breath she disappeared, leaving a small puddle behind her. She reappeared outside Draco's door and had to fight not to hyperventilate. While demons had no need for oxygen, many did simulate breathing and when denied access to the oxygen can get alarmed as a mortal would. The air outside Draco's room was thick with evil. Panic forming in her mind she opened the door softly. Looking inside she saw Draco still awake. In an instant she realised what had happened as he raised his pain filled blue eyes to met her green eyes filed with guilt and remorse.   
  
  
  
Hehehe, another cliffhanger! (Ducks flames!) Sorry, Kira insisted that I throw in another one! Her fault, not mine. So review my darlings, reviews give me inspiration! On a more serious note, there is a rumour, following an article in the Scotsman newspaper that Harry Potter fan fiction will be removed fro the internet. Basically these homophobic, small minded, bigoted wannabe Nazi's (can't you just tell I love them!) were complaining about slash in a story originally aimed at children. (Yeah, cos we're all really sick paedophiles not creative geniuses) Ok, I'll get to the point before I go on about the matter, which I've been ranting about for the last two days. What ever happens I intend to keep writing if you want to keep reading. If you want to receive chs send me your email address and I'll send them to you directly. In the meantime lets all pray to whichever god(s) we believe in that this possible infringement of freedom doesn't happen. 


	10. chapter 10

I'm sorry this ch is so short, and has been so long in coming, things have been very distracting lately, leaving me little or no time to write.   
  
Someone asked how many chs are left, I have no idea, as many as I can think of. I have plans for a sequel, and possibly a prequel, which keeps distracting me, but I'm going to finish this one before I put any of it to paper.   
  
Anyway, a special dedication in this ch, Charlotte, a friend of my fab beta WychFire. Hope you like it!  
  
You know, I can't be bothered to do a previously on... if you can't remember guess you'll just have to go read it all again!! But Draco was hurt, poor babes, at the end of the last ch, if you really need a refresher!!  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Water gasped, tears threatening to spill down her face. She stumbled further into the room, approaching the bed with trepidation. Draco lowered his eyes and turned his head slowly away from her.   
  
"Draco," she stammered. "I'm so sorry, oh God, I'm sorry."  
  
Draco looked at her once more and opened his mouth to speak when she spoke again. "I didn't know, I didn't feel anything, I should have felt it, why didn't I know, why didn't I help you..." her voice trailed off when she saw Draco looking at her with a very inappropriate amused look on his face.  
  
"It's ok, it's not your fault. But we need to leave; now, Voldemort told me he cast a spell over this house, it...I don't know...it stopped me from crying out, and clouded everyone's judgment. It meant that my mother didn't notice you leaving with my father, but you didn't realise it would raise suspicions."  
  
Water thought, Draco was right, the feeling of slowness, of lack of concentration, had started before the frost. Voldemort. She growled, deep in her throat as she moved towards the window. Draco watched warily as his teacher began to pace like a caged animal. Suddenly she stopped. Turning to look him in the eye she had a grim gaze that filled him with irrational fear.   
  
"He will pay with his blood for what he has done. I promise you that."  
  
Draco nodded in reply. Water started out of the room. "Wait." She twisted round. Draco gulped. "Don't tell anyone. Please."  
  
Her eyes filled with sympathy at the desperate plea and she silently nodded before rushing out of the room.  
  
She swept down the corridor, her thoughts dark and stormed back into her room, not sparing a glance at Lucius, still unconscious on the bed. Seating herself on the huge chair, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her brother. Within moments his image appeared in her mind's eye, looking worried.   
  
"Are you ok?" his voice gently whispered over her mind like a ghost. Struggling to maintain her composure she let him know, without words. Almost instantly the air before her rippled and swirled, before it condensed into a solid form. Air stepped forward, a frown marring his handsome face. He reached down and softly raised her chin with his hand. His frown deepened as he tried to reach the source of his sister's distress. She was not forthcoming with information as she battled with internal demons. Air stood patiently, his arms folded across his broad chest. After a couple of minutes Water looked at him finally.   
  
"Can you go through this room, remove any traces that I've been here, then erase Lucius' memory of the past...," she paused, thinking. "12 hours to be on the safe side. Remove any thought of Draco being here over Christmas, then wait for me."  
  
"Wait, sis, what's going on? Why are you leaving? What happened to getting some info?"  
  
Water looked grim. "I got all the info I'll get out of him and there's been developments. It's not safe here for Draco; we need to get him back to Hogwarts. Now."  
  
Air nodded. "How do you want me to affect his mind?" he asked as he gestured at the sleeping Lucius.   
  
"Make him forget, but don't permanently erase the memory. He'll remember it again when he sees me again; better make him forget our meeting at Hogwarts too. I'll take Narcissa and Voldemort."  
  
Air grabbed her arm. "Voldemort's here?"  
  
Water shuddered. "Yeah, he's a creep. And he's dangerous, Air, more than we thought."  
  
"What, to us?" Air scoffed. His amused face fell at his sister's grim expression.  
  
"I'll explain it later." With that she left the room, leaving her brother to deal with Lucius.  
  
Sorting out Voldemort and Narcissa took mere moments, a simple matter of reaching into their minds and hiding the memories. She shuddered as she felt Voldemort's mind touch hers. They, however, didn't notice a thing. After that was dealt with she mentally transported herself back to Draco's room, the air still thick with evil. Draco was standing outside his door already, his bags packed. Seconds after Water materialised Air joined them both, Water's bag slung over his shoulder.   
  
They arrived back at Hogwarts shortly after, using a complex array of spells that left Draco's head spinning. They appeared outside Dumbledore's office, at the moment the door swung open, the head master standing there, looking grim. He ushered them into the room, before sitting Draco down on the lush velvet chair before his desk. Air glanced at Draco, sympathy clearly showing in his eyes before whispering to his sister.  
  
"I'll head back to our rooms and wake up the other two. There's nothing I can do here, we'll talk to you when you're done."  
  
Water nodded as Air quietly left, closing the door behind him. Draco was shaking slightly, no surprise after his ordeal. Dumbledore sat in his seat, looking very old.   
  
"I am so sorry Mr Malfoy. Believe me when I say I never thought you would be in so much danger."  
  
Water growled. "I was beaten by a simple mortal's spell, it should never have happened."  
  
Dumbledore sighed. "Calm your self, you had no idea you would be confronted with any resistance. There was no indication that Lucius or Voldemort suspected you to be any more than another witch. This incident, while tragically unfortunate, was due to no fault of yours."  
  
Water scowled, her anger still clearly showing on her face, Dumbledore's steely gaze never leaving hers. Both jumped slightly when Draco spoke.  
  
"I don't want anyone to know."  
  
Dumbledore looked across at the young Slytherin. After a moment he nodded. "Very well, after you've been looked over by Madam Pomfrey, which you shall be mister Malfoy," his voice rose slightly over Draco's panicked, indignant look. "I can provide you with rooms away from the other students. Water here should stay in Sunnydale for the next couple of days and you can both show your selves again, the day after tomorrow when you were due to return. No one will suspect anything did not go as planned. However, Draco, Professor Snape will be informed of your return, but not of the details behind it, I will ask him not to pressure you with questions."  
  
Dumbledore paused, sadness clouding his eyes. "Draco, it is not my place to instruct you as to who you should and shouldn't tell of your ordeal..." he paused again as if considering "but I would, however, ask that when you are ready, you try to tell someone who cares about you, someone who means something to you." Water thought she saw a slight twinkle in the old wizards' eye as he continued "It would sadden me greatly to think that this event could put an end to a budding relationship before it even had a chance to begin."  
  
Draco lowered his eyes, blinking away the welling tears. After a moment he nodded, before looking up, trying to smile at his head master and teacher. Dumbledore smiled a small, tight smile back. Rising, he gestured for Draco to follow him, glancing at Water, who nodded, before leaving the room. She walked slowly down the corridor, her thoughts jumbled. Before long she reached her and the other elementals' rooms and, tired, pushed open the door to be greeted by worried looks from the other three of her kind. 


	11. chapter 11

Hey, I'm back again, probably another too short ch, but I'm kinda busy with loadsa exams at the mo! Whoever came up with the idea of exams was worse than Voldemort! A couple of you wonderful reviewers have mentioned about what happened to Draco. Well, my lovelies, I'm leaving that as a mystery for now, to be revealed as dramatically as poss. later in the fic! Anyway, along with the usual dedications and disclaimers, here's ch11!  
  
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"What's going on?" Fire's eyes flashed with anticipation. Air was sitting on the large, four-poster bed, resting his head on Earth's shoulder. A frown of concern looked out of place on Earth's normally cheerful face.  
  
Water faced them looking grim. "Voldemort was at the mansion. I tried to probe his mind, but it was empty."  
  
Air's head shot up. "Empty?"  
  
"Lucius confirmed it," Water nodded. "Voldemort's been breaking the rules, defying the laws that keep reality together. He's broken his own mortality and now he's an abomination, neither living or dead, a part of this world, yet existing outside of it."  
  
Fire looked aghast. "But that means..."  
  
"He's gaining ultimate knowledge." Her brother finished for her. Water drew a chair closer and sat heavily on it, exhaustion showing on her face. "Precisely. The whole universe exists on certain laws and by defying them he's gaining knowledge and power no mortal should ever posses."  
  
"With ultimate knowledge comes ultimate power." Fire said through gritted teeth. She turned, an angry sigh escaping her lips.   
  
"But only one being can have ultimate power," Earth's voice shook slightly. "Not even angels or demons can have anything near that strong."  
  
"And being mortal corrupts his judgment, we could be facing an unstoppable Armageddon here." Air closed his eyes, lowering his head into his hands. Earth moved closer along the bed and put an arm around his lover, who moved into the comforting touch. Earth looked up after a moment. "So what do we do?"  
  
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Dumbledore swept down the corridor, Draco following behind him. There was an eerie sense of déjà vu as Madam Pomfrey was woken to tend Draco's wounds. While Dumbledore did not mention any of the circumstances, to the trained medi-witch it was very clear what had happened. However, discretion was, as always, paramount to her work. So she said nothing, fighting back tears as she healed and fixed the scars, until no trace of them remained. Draco then hid away in private rooms, attended by Dobby, the only house elf he would allow near him. While Dobby was never told what had happened, experiences at Malfoy Manor gave him a pretty good idea. Inwardly he wept for his former master, the only member of the house who had ever shown him any kindness, and raged at Voldemort, swearing vengeance. Water too disappeared, as agreed, staying in Sunnydale.  
  
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"This sucks!" The statement was punctuated with an angry kick to the first vampire's ribs. Water spun around, slamming another in the jaw with her fist. She turned her attention to the second vamp for a moment, hammering punches to both sides of her face. The vampire, a young, attractive woman in life, seemed stunned at the ferociousness behind the attack. Buffy sat on a swing, watching her friend work off her anger.   
  
"What sucks, specifically?" She asked as she absent-mindedly raised the stake to slam into the chest of the vamp attempting to creep up behind her. As if she couldn't smell him from a mile off. He was joined by his friend as Water smashed her stake into her chest so hard her fist came out the other side. She glowered at the swirling dust for a moment before turning to join Buffy on the swings.   
  
"Everything, Voldemort, Draco, Lucius." Water turned, pausing for a moment as she staked the first vampire, still writhing on the floor. She sat on the swing next to Buffy, gently pushing her self into a soothing motion. Buffy joined her, pushing her legs back, before letting go, joining Water in perfect unison.   
  
"What happened Water? You've been stressing about it all day and I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the vamps!"  
  
Water's gaze dropped to the floor. "I screwed up, that's what happened."  
  
Buffy felt a frown cross her face. "You screwed up? But how? I thought all you had to do was have sex with Lucius? Did his wife give you a hard time?"  
  
A short laugh was the reply. "Narcissa? Pathetic, short sighted. She was easy to wind up, and I thought easy to control." Water paused as Buffy's frown deepened. "Turns out I was overestimating my own powers. I got Lucius away, no problem, even got some interesting info, once I figure it all out. But it wasn't me who distracted Narcissa. It was Voldemort. He blocked...I'm not sure what, but Narcissa didn't figure out that I'd gone off to fuck her husband and I couldn't sense a thing from Draco."  
  
"What happened to Draco?" growing alarm became clear in Buffy's voice.  
  
"Let's just say Voldemort needed compensation for his whore being away." Water gave Buffy a meaningful look. Buffy winced. "Draco doesn't want anyone to know what happened, so please don't ask me to tell you what was done to him," Water continued.   
  
"Poor Draco." Buffy shook her head sadly. "And poor Harry, you know those two are crazy about each other even if nothing's happened yet."  
  
"Draco kissed him"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, right before we left. And I promised I would take care of him."  
  
Water stood angrily, the swing shaking from the force of her movement. "I should have been able to take care of him, I should have been able to keep my promise," she growled.   
  
"There was nothing you could have done," Buffy's voice was forceful, but kind. "It wasn't your fault."  
  
"Yeah, but it will be my fault if Draco's too freaked to pursue anything with Harry."  
  
Buffy sighed; there was nothing she could say.  
  
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Harry watched as the sun rose, bathing the castle in rose- pink and gold light. He could feel his heart beating faster in anticipation. Today Draco would come back. Today he could find out what was meant by the kiss, tell Draco how he felt. Harry smiled ruefully. It was ironic really; that he would fall for the one person he should hate most in the school. Draco Malfoy. Slytherin, son of Death Eaters, personification of all Harry fought. So, why was he waiting, unable to sleep, counting the hours until he could see Draco again. Because Draco had changed, even Ron had admitted it. He glanced down at his watch, willing it to have moved since he last checked. 8 o'clock. Standing irritably, he dragged himself away from the stone windowsill where he had been waiting for the past 2 hours, and slowly wandered down to the common room. He picked up a book someone had left there the previous night, but he couldn't focus on the words. Growling in frustration he threw the book across the room, his anger momentarily abated by the satisfying crash as it hit the wall. His contentment was lost, however, when he heard a throat being cleared loudly. He turned to see Hermione standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories, a reproachful look on her face. Harry glowered at her, hoping she would get the message. His hope was in vain as she wandered over to join him on the couch, pausing to pick up the innocent book on the way. Turning it over in her hand, she smiled ruefully as she recognised it as one of hers. Placing it gently on the table in front of her, she sat softly next to Harry. A long silence stretched out before Hermione broke it in frustration.  
  
"You know, normally I'd be really upset about you damaging one of my books." She paused, waiting for a response. She got a grunt in return. Rolling her eyes she continued regardless. "I was working late last night on an essay for Professor Vector." Another grunt. Her expression softened. "He'll be back today, Harry."  
  
Aha, that got a response. Harry's head shot up. Hermione smiled inwardly, Harry really could be so predictable. Struggling to keep her smile to herself, she rose from the couch. "Listen, I'll go and wake up Ron, why don't you head down to the Hall, get us some seats for breakfast, then we can go the library and work on the essay for Snape, you know Ron will only do that if we're standing over him."  
  
Harry smiled gratefully and headed off towards the Great Hall, while Hermione went to attempt the great task of waking up her boyfriend.  
  
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Draco woke early, unable to sleep. He would have to face the world today and face the inevitable questions over his time home with his family. Plus he would have to face Harry. It was strange that he now dreaded the very event that he'd wanted so much when he left. But circumstances had changed and Draco felt sick at the thought of facing the boy-who-lived. The boy-he-loved. He dressed slowly, his fingers shaking slightly, his mind tumbling over the various possibilities. Should he tell Harry the full story straight away? Should he wait until their relationship was more stable? Did they even have a relationship? And how would Harry react? Draco growled, unknowingly mirroring Harry's frustration elsewhere in the castle. He closed his eyes, his head lowered.   
  
A moment later he rose, and walked slowly over to the door, dragging his feet. Placing his fingers gently on the door handle he breathed deeply, steeling himself, both mentally and physically. With renewed determination he opened the heavy oak door and stepped out into the corridor. He winced slightly as his eyes got used to the light. Closing the door softly behind him, he paused in the corridor, unable to decide where to go. A growl from his stomach made up his mind for him and he set off towards the Hall.  
  
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Harry wandered down the well-worn corridor, his mind on anything but the path in front of him. Images of the possible outcomes of any meeting with Draco filled his mind. He turned the corner, a small gasp bringing him out of his stupor. For a moment he thought he was still dreaming as he saw Draco standing in front of him, a slight panicked expression on his face. He looked so vulnerable standing there. Had something happened? Or was it just that he looked so different without the sneer that had been on his face for so long? Harry felt the urge to simply kiss him, and fought it down automatically. Instead he smiled softly.  
  
"Hey."   
  
Draco seemed to instantly relax, a small smile gracing his features. "Hey"  
  
"When did you get back?"  
  
There was a pause. "A couple of hours ago, we travelled over night." There was another pause, which seemed to stretch out for eternity, before Harry's face broke into a large grin. "It's good to have you back. I...er..." he blushed. "Well, I missed you."  
  
Draco grinned back. "I missed you too. And believe me when I say it's good to be back."  
  
Harry felt a frown of concern cross his face. "How did it go?"  
  
"My parents and I are on as good terms now as we were before." Draco paused, the smile gone from his face. "I plan to, hopefully, never see or hear from them again." A small shudder shook his body. Harry took a step closer, but stopped as Draco spoke again. "Beyond that, I really don't want to talk about it just yet, ok?" He looked up, his face filled with apprehension. Harry nodded, before taking another step, hesitating, uncertain. Draco smiled again as he closed the gap between them. Harry hugged him, hard and, after a moment, Draco hugged him back, grateful beyond words.   
  
Aww, aint that sweet! Thought I'd leave it on a happy moment for a change and get back to studying. And in the midst of all this exam stress, I really need loadsa reviews in order to get any inspiration to write! (Does puppy dog eyes!) See, I can do blackmail!! Anyway, please review, and I'll get the next chappie done asap 


	12. chapter 12

I'm really sorry about the severe delay in this ch, I've had severe writers block and loads of things on my mind lately. Now, however, I can concentrate on my fics. Yes, that is plural, check out my original fic, Trust and Deception. It's under sci fi original fics, rated R on both aff.net and fictionpress.net. PEASE review, need loadsa inspiration and feed back for that one.   
  
Ok, should refresh my disclaimers: don't own Buffy or Harry Potter. Oh, already read book five by the way so I should add that the fic will be AU from now on, though I do have ideas of how to get concepts from Order of the Phoenix into the fic, plus I'd love to get Umbridge in there. (is it just me or does she remind anyone else of the Mayor from season 3 Buffy?)   
  
Anyway kiddies, on with the show...  
  
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Harry looked at the silvery blonde sitting alone across the Hallway. He frowned slightly as he saw Snape stoop to whisper in Draco's ear, watched Draco smile, the strain of the action clearly showing on his face. Harry tried in vain to hear what Snape was saying. But the endless chattering of the eating students, returned for the new term, blocked any attempt to catch what the secretive conversation was about. He thought back to how tense Draco had been earlier, the shadow of pain that had crossed his face when mentioning his time at home. A soft, unbidden smile graced his features as he remembered how Draco had relaxed in his arms. The smile swiftly disappeared as Harry felt Hermione sit up sharply next to him. Harry followed her gaze to where Pansy was moving towards Draco, a cruel sneer on her face. Crabbe and Goyle followed her, unseen by Snape who had swept out of the Hall towards the dungeons, his cloak billowing like bats wings. Harry felt himself stand up automatically, stopped by Hermione's restraining hand on his arm. She slowly rose to her feet, her eyes never wavering from their target, Ron standing also to back her up. Pansy paused in front of Draco, allowing Crabbe and Goyle to pass her, taking their positions either side of Draco's tense body. It was an image that looked so familiar, yet never before had it seemed so sinister. The glowers that were permanently etched on the two bodyguards faces were no longer directed at anyone who would dare oppose Draco, but at the unfortunate boy himself. Harry felt a stir of pride as Draco refused to look intimidated at their arrival, fixing them with a cool gaze. Slowly everyone in the Hall quietened down and stared at the unfolding scene. Pansy sneered and opened her mouth to speak when she was interrupted by a soft voice, filled with power.  
  
"Kali, Era, Cronus, Tonic;  
  
Air like nectar, thick as onyx;  
  
Cassia by your second star;  
  
Hold mine victim as in tar."  
  
Willow had stood; her eyes ink black, her hair blown by an unseen wind. Buffy and Giles, also seated at the teachers' table, watched their friend, Buffy cautiously tensing, should anyone try to stop Willow completing the powerful spell. Pansy glowered at the elder witch and moved towards her. Willow responded by raising her hand.  
  
"Thicken!" she commanded and Pansy was frozen as the air congealed around her, holding her where she was. She struggled against the hold, but Buffy relaxed, knowing it was a futile attempt. The spell Willow had created had been strong enough to hold a God, so the teenager would cause little trouble. Willow smiled sweetly, the very picture of innocence.   
  
"Now play nice," she chided, as her eyes returned to their natural colour, the tribal power raised returning to its source in the earth. Her hand lowered and Pansy was free to move again. The tension in the room was stifling as Pansy contemplated her next move. The sound of the doors opening distracted the attention as Air and Earth entered the Hall, Earth's arm slung around his lover's hips. Immediately sensing the conflict, Earth's cheerful face creased in a frown, pausing a few steps short of the Slytherin table. Air's eyes sought out Willow's and silent communication passed between the two. Pansy clicked her fingers, motioning for Crabbe and Goyle to assume their positions beside her. Turning to leave the Hall, she deliberately collided her shoulder with Air's chest.  
  
"Faggot"  
  
The single word caused absolute stillness. Air looked down at the short girl, his face splitting with a smile. Slowly and calmly he raised his hand to grip her throat. In a swift movement, missed by almost all the mortals present, he lifted her high, and flung her across the room.   
  
"Thicken!"  
  
Willow rose again, and once more the air around Pansy's body congealed thickly around her, freezing her millimetres from the stonewall. Crabbe and Goyle started to move forward to help her, when they sunk several inches into the ground. Earth held both his hands up, tightly clenched into fists. Lifting them slightly, Crabbe and Goyle rose, and the Hall could see their feet encased in black soil, erupting through the castle foundations, and holding them fast.  
  
"Anyone else got a problem with us?" Air's voice trembled with fury. The Hall was silent, no one dared breathe, even McGonagall as pale as death, not daring to intervene. Air turned his chilling gaze onto the frozen Slytherins. "Do you?" Three terrified heads shook a negative. Turning to look at his lover, Air nodded slightly. His mouth set grimly, Earth relaxed his fists. Crabbe and Goyle fell heavily to the floor as the columns of soil released them and crumbled back underground. Willow slowly lowered Pansy, freeing her from her spell.   
  
"Consider this a warning," Air said quietly. "If I ever hear any homophobic comments again, that person will face the full wrath and fury of a very powerful and very pissed off demon. I trust I have made myself completely clear."  
  
With that, he turned and left the Hall. Earth however, paused, smirking at Crabbe and Goyle, pale and shivering on the floor. Blowing them a mocking, poisonous kiss, he waved cheekily. "Till next time honeys." Before he followed his lover out of the Hall.  
  
Buffy shared a glance with Giles and Willow. Giles sighed. "Do we have to?"  
  
"Giles, even if I do agree with them, we can't have them threatening kids like that."  
  
"Fine, but if they kill me for it, I'm completely blaming you."  
  
Rolling her eyes at her Watcher, Buffy ran after the two demons. And collided with Air who was standing right out side the door.   
  
"Ok, pay up" Hovering over Earth's hand were some cloudy figures, clearly counting off the seconds. It was frozen at 2 minutes and 27 seconds. Air scowled before reaching into the rear pocket of his battered jeans and drawing out a crisp ten-pound note. Seizing it triumphantly, Earth turned to Buffy. "He gave you 5 minutes before you'd come looking for us." His grin faded under Buffy's glare. "What?"  
  
"You know what, you guys can't just attack students like that. The Ministry will totally freak if they find out."  
  
"So we'll just have to ensure they don't." Air said, with a tone of finality that seemed to broach no argument. Buffy tried anyway.  
  
"You were still completely wrong to do something like that."  
  
"Look Buffy, maybe you don't understand this, but if students think they can get away with that kind of homophobic, prejudiced attitude in front of us, what are they going to believe they can get away with in front of other students? I'm sorry but I'm not prepared to give out detentions and deal with the mess after the fights, when I can just as well stop any of it now. I was putting across a message, which I feel very effectively got to the point. None of those brats got hurt and they'll hopefully think twice in future. Sorry if you disagree with my methods, but frankly I don't answer to the Ministry and I don't answer to you." With that Air turned and stalked off down the corridor. Buffy stared after him wondering what to do. A quiet voice broke into her thoughts.   
  
"He's right you know."  
  
Willow was standing in the doorway, looking at her friend, a hint of reproach in her eyes. "It was a very effective way of getting a point across, and he did warn me that he may have to do something like that, so I was prepared to stop Parkinson hitting the wall."  
  
Buffy sighed, "I know, I just worry in case he gets out of control and really hurts someone."  
  
"He won't." Earth said with total confidence. "Look, trust me, I know Air, been sleeping with him for centuries. He knows his limits." He smiled disarmingly, causing Buffy to smile wanly back.  
  
"I guess. Can you talk to him? I wasn't ragging on him, I even agree with him, it's just if the Ministry does find out we'll be thrown out of here so fast we'll make it all the way across the Atlantic before we land."  
  
Earth grinned widely. "They won't find out, don't worry so much, you'll get wrinkles. I'll talk to him, calm him down, shag him senseless and he'll be putty in my hands again in no time."  
  
"Thanks. And way too much information!"  
  
Earth giggled slightly before jogging off to catch up with his moody lover. Buffy turned and got a small hug from Willow. Smiling softly she made her way back into the Great Hall. The three Slytherins were still pale and shaken. She spared no sympathy or looks for them, instead seeking out Harry who was staring intently at the door she had just come through. Meeting her gaze he raised and eyebrow in question. She grinned, and was pleased to see him relax. His gaze shifted and she saw the shy looks he and Draco were sharing. It made her heart melt slightly, and she nudged Willow and pointed it out to her. Willow grinned, as Harry stood to leave the hall to head for class. Almost instantly Draco rose too from his seat and headed over to join Harry, the entire Halls' gaze on him.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
For the first time in what felt like forever Draco's face relaxed into a genuine smile as he joined Harry outside the door. Each moment felt like an eternity, the painful memories dragging out time to unimaginable lengths. Harry's scruffy raven hair hung loose into his eyes and he began chatting amicably as though the past 5 years and the past few minutes never happened. His words drifted over Draco's head, not sinking in as Draco started to hear the same taunting voice echo through his mind that had been haunting him for days.   
  
He'll find out you know.  
  
He'll think you're worthless.  
  
He'll be disgusted with you.  
  
He'll think you deserved it.  
  
He'll leave you for Voldemort to finish.  
  
Who would want sloppy seconds?  
  
Draco automatically suppressed the whimper threatening to rise at the back of his throat. In his minds eye he could see Voldemort's leering face, hear his cackling laughter as he inflicted so much pain. He barely noticed that he had stopped dead in the corridor and Harry was staring with a concerned expression on his face.  
  
"Draco?"  
  
Harry frowned at Draco's paler than usual features. "Draco are you ok?"  
  
"I'm...I'm fine." Draco stammered.  
  
"No you're not, you look ready to collapse. Are you sure you should be going to class?"  
  
"No, really I'm fine, just tired." Draco tried to argue, but his heart wasn't really in it. Harry sighed slightly. Thinking fast he hurried back to the Main Hall, meeting Ron and Hermione at the door.  
  
"You alright mate?" Ron asked, seeing Harry's concern immediately.  
  
"Not sure, can you two cover for me and Draco in Potions, something's up with him so I'm going to take him back to the dorm, try to figure out what's going on."  
  
"You're skipping Potions? Harry, Snape's going to kill you." Hermione warned.  
  
Harry gave her his winning smile. "Guess you're going to have to come up with a good excuse then." Hermione glowered at him, before nodding her reluctant agreement. Grinning slightly Ron guided Hermione in the direction of the dungeons, calling "good luck Harry," over his shoulder. Half running back to Draco he found him in the exact spot he had left him, still too pale, trembling slightly. Grabbing his hand Harry began to lead Draco towards the Gryffindor tower. The lack of response concerned him further and the journey to the safety of his room seemed far too long. Guiding Draco to his bed, Harry sat next to him awaiting any sort of response from the silent boy. The minutes ticked on and Harry nearly jumped out of skin when Draco finally spoke.  
  
"What about everyone else?"  
  
"Don't worry about them," Harry soothed. "I got Ron and Hermione to cover for us. Just tell me what's wrong, please."  
  
Draco shook his head slightly. "I just need some sleep."  
  
Sighing in resignation, Harry hung his head. "Fine get some sleep then. I'll be here if you want to talk."  
  
Silently Draco lay down on the soft bed, closing his eyes. Within moments his breathing slowed and became more rhythmic. Shrugging Harry lay next to him, fully intending to be there for Draco when he woke up. It wasn't long before the restless nights took their toll and he too drifted off to sleep.  
  
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Harry awoke to violent thrashing from Draco. Quickly dodging a flying fist he tried to shake himself awake as he attempted to calm Draco. A sheen of sweat covered his face, plastering his mussed blonde hair to his forehead. His eyes were clenched tightly shut and he was whimpering in fear. Harry thought swiftly before deciding to wake Draco from whatever nightmare he was trapped in. The clear fear and panic on Draco's face chilled Harry to the bones. Grasping Draco's shoulders, he shook him gently, softly calling his name, hoping to reach him deep in his dream. He relaxed with relief as ice blue eyes met emerald green. Opening his mouth to speak, he was stunned when Draco's fist collided with his jaw. As he fell backwards, his head connected with the bedpost with a sickening crack. Blinking away the stars that danced in front of his eyes, Harry barely heard the gasp and stammered apology from Draco. Groaning slightly he raised his hand to his jaw, wincing as he felt the growing bruise there. A shifting weight off the bed brought his senses alive once more. He looked up to see Draco running for the door, stumbling on unsure feet.  
  
"Wait," Harry mumbled, although in his disorientated state it came out more as a moan than a word. If Draco heard he gave no indication as he swept through the door. His resolve stronger than his sense, Harry rushed to follow, swaying slightly as the room spun.  
  
Draco seemed to be running with no idea of where to go. The vague indecisiveness allowed Harry to catch up easily, reaching out to grab Draco's arms. Draco resisted, half falling, before Harry caught him. Hearing voices, not far away, Harry guided Draco into a nearby classroom, deserted over Christmas. Draco was shaking with emotion and was unable to meet Harry's eyes. The silence that stretched out between them was a terrible thing. But then, just as Harry opened his mouth to ease the tension, Draco spoke.  
  
"I'm sorry," the words tumbled out hurriedly and still he wouldn't meet Harry's gaze. Harry sighed.  
  
"It's ok." He stated, taking a step towards Draco, mortified when he took a step away. Draco snorted, disbelieving, the merest hint of his normal self breaking through.  
  
"It is ok," Harry stated, more firmly, catching Draco's chin in his and forcing him to look him in the yes. Draco didn't resist and Harry saw the warring instincts of a need for comfort and deep despair within the pain filled crystal depths. Despair won and Draco pulled away, but did not leave the room yet.  
  
"Draco..." Harry started before he was interrupted.  
  
"You should go."  
  
Taken back, both by the existence of the response and the words it carried, Harry blinked. "Why?"  
  
"Because I'm dirty." The answer was almost childlike and Harry felt his heart break at the pain in the voice. Unable to think of what to say he waited for Draco to continue. Finally Draco unwillingly looked up. "Because I'm dirty and if you're with me you'll get hurt."  
  
"Isn't that my risk to take?" Harry asked carefully. Draco frowned.  
  
"Why would you risk being hurt because of me?"  
  
Harry took a deep breath. He felt as if it was now or never, though for the life of him he had no idea if he was doing the right thing. Plus he hated feeling like a cliché. However he knew that if he remained silent he could lose Draco forever. Looking at him, directly in the eyes, he uttered the words he had both dreaded and longed to say since the beginning of term.  
  
"Because I'm falling in love with you."  
  
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Wow, it's good to be back! Now, review all of you and I may consider writing another ch! Poor Draco, I feel like such a bitch! So go one, hit that review button, ok!  
  
Also, to avoid such severe writers block again, I'm going to ask for your ideas. I have the main plot very firmly in my mind, but it's the subplots that need developing. Are there any couples you want to see? Any characters you want to see more/less of, and in what context? Any scenes you're just dying to see? (my fab beta has put in a request for a Buffy and Harry drunk scene, look out for that in the next couple of chs!!) so let me know, give me inspiration, all appreciated!!! 


	13. chapter 13

Once again, loadsa apologies for the delays (always have a bloody excuse don't I?!) This time it's starting uni. I'm telling you, hours of Law lectures seriously kill any creativity!!  
  
I better just add that I don't own Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. If you haven't read it don't worry, but I strongly recommend it, it's a hilarious book!  
  
Extra special thanks to WychFire for the entire paragraphs he's written for this ch, when I've been so exhausted by lectures.   
  
And an added plea for reviews of this ch, it's by far the longest I've written and it's actually my favourite, so I really, really want to hear what you all think.   
  
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Harry declaring his love for Draco, aw, bless! Place your bets now as to how Draco's going to react...   
  
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"Because I'm falling in love with you."  
  
Draco took a step backwards, stunned. "What?"  
  
"I'm falling in love with you." Harry repeated cautiously, glad he hadn't been punched for his admission, but also wary of a delayed reaction. Draco blinked; opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before finding his voice.  
  
"That's impossible."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because you can't be in love with me. You just can't."  
  
"Why not?" Harry was confused. "What's not to love about you?"  
  
"I told you, I'm dirty, you can't love me, I'm dirty, I'll make you dirty and you can't be dirty, because you're good and if I taint you then that makes me worse than I already am," Draco was shouting, tears threatening to spill over his face.  
  
"Draco what happened? Why are you being like this?" Harry pleaded. "What do you mean 'you're dirty'?"  
  
"I thought I already told you once that I don't need your pity." Draco's face was set with pain and anger, his voice petulant as a child.  
  
"Why would I pity you?" Harry's voice was suddenly wary, filled with trepidation. Draco simply shook his head and began to back out of the room.  
  
"Just leave me alone, you can't help me."  
  
Harry took a step towards Draco, only to be stopped by him shaking his head again. "Please just leave me alone." With that he turned and left, trembling slightly, leaving Harry with his worries and fears.  
  
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Draco stormed down the corridor, ignoring the whispers and stares from students, scuttling away from his fierce expression. Even Professor Flitwick squeaked nervously, pressing himself into the wall to avoid being trampled. Draco simply kept walking, lost in his own thoughts, when a hand reached out and stopped him dead in his tracks.  
  
"Well, well, what do we have here then?" the British accent drawled. The smell of nicotine and tar was pungent in Draco's face as Spike inhaled deeply from his cigarette. The blonde vampire cocked his head to one side, inspecting the burnt ash, before flicking the remains onto a passing Hufflepuff. "I take it things went less than well at Daddy's." He shrugged dismissively. "I'll tell you what, pet. You calm down a bit and I won't have to teach you a lesson about looking where you're going." Draco's face was still set with pain and anger. "Aw, hell, I'm going to do the whole 'wanna talk about it' gig aint I pet?" Spike looked disgusted, before guiding Draco into the room allocated to him as an office. This is starting to get boring, Draco thought vacantly. Spike frowned at the lack of any response from the boy. Waving his hand in front of Draco's face, he felt his concern grow at the stillness.   
  
"You aint been possessed, right?" Draco numbly shook his head.  
  
"Struck dumb by a curse? Replaced by a clone, used for government experiments? Cause if it's the last one I can relate, but hell, dammit, will you just bloody say something, you're starting to freak me out here." Spike could feel his anger and frustration growing. His face contorted into the demonic visage that always lingered beneath the surface. Draco didn't even react. Spike felt himself soften, the protective feelings, that he had only ever felt for Dawn since Dru had turned him into a monster, rising at the sight of the boy, clearly going through hell. "Look pet, I can't help you unless I know what's going on. I shouldn't be wanting to help you at all, but I'm your teacher so I am going to right? Even if you don't want me to." Something in those words caused Draco to look up. The vampire was leaning against a wall, his fangs still glistening in the lamplight, eyes still a demonic yellow.   
  
"How old are you?" The softly spoken question made Spike jump. Confused, but relieved at the presence of a reaction, he thought a moment, "120 odd, give or take a decade or two. Gave up counting a while ago."  
  
"Are you evil?"  
  
Spike leered, drawing back his lips to emphasise his fangs. "What do you think?"  
  
Draco simply stared until Spike relented. "I was anyway. Maybe I still am, I don't know." He sighed, staring at the ceiling for a moment. "Not sure what I am any more, mate. Been evil for as long as I can remember. William the Bloody. Feared across Europe. Killed two Slayers. Now, I don't know. Haven't been able to hunt for a while. This damn chip in my head. And to be honest, and I aint ever told no one this so you keep your mouth shut, I'm not sure what I'd do if this chip was removed. Go back to killing or fighting the good fight. It's the damn Slayer and the Lil' Bit, see? Bloody humanity's contagious. Couldn't kill them. Wouldn't want to. But they'd kill me, in a second, if I ever lost this chip."  
  
"Would you deserve it?"  
  
"Excuse me, what kind of question is that?"  
  
Draco looked at Spike, unblinkingly. "Would you deserve it? Are some people so bad that even when they try to be good, bad things still happen cause they deserve it?"   
  
Spike frowned, "Most people believe no matter how bad you've been, how many people you've hurt, you can still earn redemption if you work hard enough. I mean just look at my bleeding poof of a sire. Peaches was the scourge of Europe, taught me everything I know. Now, he's got this bloody soul he's all for helping people. Enough to make you sick really."  
  
"Do bad things still happen to him?"  
  
"Well, yeah I guess. Listen, kid, what's this all about? You aint a bad person, so what's the interest?"  
  
"What would you know about me?"  
  
"I know you've had a tough break. I know most people wouldn't understand pressure, like what you've been through. Parental approval drives most people. It just sucks when the parents approve of the wrong thing. And I know something's happened. The smell of fear coming off you is choking."  
  
Draco lowered his eyes. Despite his protests to Dumbledore and Water, part of him was desperate to talk to someone about what had happened. While with Harry, his feelings kept on interfering; he felt that Spike wouldn't judge him, would listen to him openly, despite his bravado. Brokenly, hesitantly, he began to tell the vampire the full truth as to what had happened at the Manor. For Spike's part he listened with growing horror and anger. When Draco finished it took the vampire a few moments to find his voice.   
  
"I don't care how bad you've been or think you've been, no one deserves that, you hear me, no one. And I think you should talk to Harry, tell him what you've told me. I know these hero types, he won't judge you, or hate you. Don't let that bastard ruin your life, pet. You're worth more than that and golden boy knows it. Just give it time, is all."  
  
Draco nodded, his heart feeling lighter at Spike's words. Tonight, he promised himself. I'll talk to Harry tonight.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry was still standing in the deserted classroom when Ron peered curiously in.   
  
"There you are mate, been looking for you everywhere."  
  
Harry simply shrugged. He could still see Draco's broken face in his mind; he could barely see Ron's frown of concern.  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
Harry didn't get a chance to answer before Hermione, breathlessly, ran through the open door.  
  
"Ron, have you found... Oh there you are, we've been looking for you everywhere. Is Malfoy ok?"  
  
Seeing Harry's stricken look, Ron put two and two together. "He didn't want your help, did he?"  
  
Dumbly, Harry shook his head. Ron sighed. "Look, we're allowed down to Hogsmeade after 5th year, how about we head down there for a drink?" At Harry's lack of reaction, he shrugged, grabbing one arm, motioning for Hermione to take the other. "Take that as a yes then mate." With that he and Hermione gently pulled their friend out of the castle, towards Hogsmeade. Harry remained silent, although he did start walking of his own accord, allowing Ron and Hermione to release his arms. Thankfully the Hogs Head was relatively empty as Hermione picked out a table, leaving Ron to get the drinks. Setting the three butter beers down, Ron sat, staring at his friend with concern. Silently, Harry took a long gulp of his drink. He stared at his glass for a moment, before finally beginning to talk.  
  
"I don't know what to do." He paused, not missing the looks of both worry and relief flit over his friends' faces. "Something happened, I know it, he just won't tell me what." Harry turned his anguished eyes to focus on the others for the first time that evening. "I think it's killing him."  
  
Hermione let out a deep breath she hadn't even realised she was holding. "Harry, there's not much you can do, he knows you're here for him, it's got to be his choice to come to you."  
  
"I know that," Harry growled in frustration. "I just hate seeing him like this."  
  
"We know, mate," Ron offered. "Maybe he just needs some time. And beating yourself up about it isn't going to help. He's a Malfoy; he'll accept others help only if he really has to. All you can do in the meantime is wait."  
  
A soft, indulgent smile spread over Hermione's face as Harry knocked his head onto the wooden table with a defeated clunk, before nodding miserably. "Young love," she murmured. She tore her eyes away from Harry to stare into Ron's. "Makes you think, doesn't it." It was more of a statement than a question. Ron nodded regretfully, sensing, as she did, that she was referring to the lack of such passion in their life. Sure, he loved her, would die for her, but he didn't feel as in love with her as he should. He knew she felt the same way. Her chair scraped as she stood.  
  
"You can finish my drink, I'm guessing this is one of those male bonding things that leave women mystified." Harry lifted his head briefly, grunted an acknowledgment, before returning to the slumped position. Ron took her hand and softly kissed it, a gesture of friendship. Tinged with the regret was relief, as they both silently accepted that they were over as a couple. "Be careful walking back."  
  
"Always," Hermione stated. "Good luck," she added grinning, nodding her head towards Harry. Ron groaned. "Think I'm going to need it." Shaking her head slightly in amusement, Hermione hurried out of the pub. Ron stared after her for a moment before turning his full attention back to Harry.  
  
"Here, mate, just drink up. I actually have some money from Dad's pay rise, and I plan on spending it all getting the two of us drunk."  
  
This made Harry raise his head. "Your dad got a pay rise?"  
  
Ron grinned widely, "Yep. About bloody time too. Something to do with how long he's worked there. So now I'm a single man, I plan to drink it all away!"  
  
"You're single?" Harry questioned, a frown creasing his forehead. He felt guilty at feeling good about the distraction. Ron pulled a face. "Yeah, it's been inevitable for a while now, even if it just happened." He paused to laugh at the bewilderment on Harry's face. "Sometimes you know someone so well, you don't need words. It's ok, honest. Just weird I guess."  
  
"I'm sorry," Harry managed after a while.  
  
"Don't be," Ron firmly stated. "Like I said, it's been inevitable for a while. We've been drifting apart. Mainly 'cause we recently realised we have very different aims in life, and while we can support each other as friends, it just wouldn't work as a couple."  
  
"What are your aims?"  
  
"Family mostly. That's what we differ on. I couldn't imagine not having a large family, but Mione wants to change the world with her genius. Family doesn't really enter into that." Harry nodded, his surprise lessening. Hermione was very focused, and now he thought about it, he couldn't really see her with children. He glanced over at Ron. "You ok?"  
  
"Yeah, just weird, like I said. That's why I propose we get seriously drunk. It's only Divination tomorrow, we can have hangovers. Girlfriends - who needs 'em eh? Or boyfriends in your case Harry, sorry mate, no offence"  
  
"None taken," Harry grinned for the first time in what felt like ages, raising his glass. "Cheers."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hermione wandered up to the castle, her mind going over the exchange with Ron. She smiled, ruefully, as she remembered how Harry's eyes had lit up when talking about Draco, even as his voice tinged with worry. Ron hadn't looked at her like that in a long time. Now she thought about it, Hermione couldn't remember Ron ever looking at her with such adoration. Their relationship had seemed a natural progression of their friendship, however, Ron was unavoidably boring as a boyfriend. She craved someone who would challenge her, not just make her laugh as Ron did.  
  
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the figure walking towards her until she collided straight into him.  
  
"Bloody hell, look where you're going," The London accent exclaimed, as the figure stumbled back. Hermione looked up to see the blonde hair and pale skin glowing in the moonlight. She placed her hands on her hips as Spike straightened, cursing loudly.  
  
"Why is it only my fault, you walked into me as well you know. And should you be using such language in front of a student?"  
  
Spike looked indignant. "I'll bloody use whatever bloody language I fucking like. Or would you prefer it if I swore in some demonic language which you could use to raise all unholy evil? Besides, what are you doing out here anyway? Shouldn't you be at the castle?"  
  
"I'm on my way there," she replied, rolling her eyes.  
  
"On your own?" He clarified, inadvertently mimicking her as he rolled his eyes when she nodded. "In the dark?" Again she nodded. "Have you learnt nothing from your classes? There's all manner of evil lurking. Plus your evil wizard overlord bloke." She simply stared at him, hints of offence creeping into her eyes. Spike sighed, exasperated, "Guess I'll have to walk you back." Now the offence was no longer hints, it was full blown emotion.   
  
"I don't need your protection, thank you very much, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."  
  
"Sure you are, love," Spike smirked. "That's why you walked straight into a vampire."  
  
"You walked into me too," Hermione spluttered. "Why am I the one who has to look where I'm going? Because I'm a woman?"  
  
"No, because, I'm a vampire and you're a human. I don't need to pay attention."  
  
"Why, of all the arrogant, bloody..."  
  
"Now, now, pet. Who needs to watch their language now?"  
  
Hermione glared at him in such a way that Spike briefly wondered if she'd been getting lessons from the Slayer. Glowering back, the Big Bad was mortified when the shorter human didn't back down. Adjusting his leather duster over his shoulders, he attempted to regain his usual bravado. "Now look pet, I'm walking you back, and you better get used to it, or..." his voice trailed off as he realised he couldn't actually threaten the girl with bodily violence. He thought for a moment as to what he could use, as a triumphant look spread over Hermione's face. Suddenly, he smiled, "Or I'll be forced to take away house points." The triumph swiftly fled from her face, and inwardly he crowed with satisfaction, even as his demon mocked him for being so weak. She scowled. "Fine," as she stormed off. Spike stood dumbly, wondering what tricks she was playing, unable to believe she had let him win so easily. Hermione glanced back over her shoulder.  
  
"You keeping up, or what?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
In the meantime, Harry and Ron had moved swiftly from the butter beer to the various strong ales from the Hogsbreath Brewery. Rosemerta had recognised two lovelorn boys and hadn't asked them for proof of age, much to their gratitude. They were on their second pint of Hogsbreath's finest when the doors to the pub swung open, Buffy and Xander striding in, their faces red from the cold. Buffy's eyes scanned the pub, force of habit causing her to assess possible dangers and vulnerable areas of attack. She settled her gaze on Harry and Ron's table, before she grinned, nudging Xander in the ribs to get his attention.  
  
"Err, Buffy, Slayer strength," Xander wheezed.  
  
"Huh?" she asked, absently, glancing over her shoulder to where Xander was pressing a hand to his side and wincing where she had elbowed him.   
  
"Oh, sorry," she grinned apologetically. Xander pulled a slight face. "Don't give me that look young lady. You owe me a drink now."  
  
"Deal," Buffy smiled innocently, before grabbing his hand and pulling him over to Harry and Ron. "Hey, guys, you ok? What are you up to and holy god is that alcohol?" She looked wide-eyed at the half empty pint glasses on the table, the boys looking sheepish, as Xander's face brightened. "Cool, can we join you?" He made to sit down on a spare stool, before being yanked up by Buffy.   
  
"Uh, uh, no way. You can't join them, they're underage, we can't encourage their behaviour."  
  
Xander shrugged, before attempting to sit down again. This time Buffy pulled him up so hard he went flying backwards into the table behind them.  
  
"Oh, oops," Buffy winced.  
  
Xander glared at her from his undignified position on the floor, the toppled table sprawled over his legs. "'Oops?' What did I say, mere moments ago, about Slayer strength? And can I just saw OW!"  
  
"Sorry," Buffy reached down to help him to his feet. Xander stared at her hand warily for a moment until he grudgingly accepted the offer. As he stood, Rosemerta sidled quietly up to Buffy. "I know they're underage, luvvie, but I know what love sick boys look like, so I'm prepared to make n exception." She whispered.  
  
"See," Xander stuck his tongue out at Buffy who was still looking indecisive. He sat down decisively, eyes daring her to disagree. "That's two drinks." Rosemerta smiled at the young American. "What's your poison then, my love?"  
  
"I'll try whatever they're having," He jerked a thumb in the direction of the drinks. "And better bring them another round. She's paying." Buffy glowered at him, as the bar maid chuckled, heading over to the bar to fetch the order. Buffy remained standing, conflict clearly showing on her face.   
  
"Look, Buffy, just sit down, chill out and help me prove once and for all to Giles that English beers are no better than good old US brews, straight from the refrigerator."  
  
Rosemerta returned, four glasses on a tray. Handing a pint to each of the boys, she pointedly placed one in front of Buffy. "You mustn't get drunk! We're your teachers! Bad pupils! Bad me!" She mumbled, flopping into the seat offered by the grinning Rosemerta. Sighing reluctantly, she reached for the glass, sipping at the beer delicately, as though she could get irreversibly drunk from the smallest mouthful. Xander crowed in triumph at the pleasantly surprised look that crossed her face. "See, Buffy, not all alcohol is evil!" She nodded slightly, causing Xander to fall into fits of laughter. Turning her attention away from her friend, she focused on the two boys, who were slowly getting used to the idea of drinking with a teacher.  
  
"So, what's up with you boys, anyway?"  
  
Ron shrugged. "I'm single and he's depressed."  
  
"Ouch," Xander winced. "Ok, Buffy," he stated, turning the blonde, "you take the depressed one and I'll take the single one."  
  
"Agreed," she nodded, solemnly. "So, Harry, why are you depressed?"  
  
The boy who lived shrugged. "I'm worried about Draco and I'm fed up of saving the world from evil overlords. Or one evil overlord, many times."  
  
"Well, I can't really help with the Draco thing, but I can sympathise with the saving the world part. I was 15 when I was told that I was the chosen one."  
  
Harry looked at her with serious eyes. "I was 11 when I first fought Voldemort."  
  
"Oh," Buffy was taken aback, ignoring Ron's habitual wince at the name. "Wow, that's...young."  
  
"I've faced him five times."  
  
"Aha, see now I can beat you, I've stopped," She paused to think, "8... I think, yeah 8 apocalypses. Or is it apocalpsi? What's the plural?" She turned to Xander, who shrugged. "And," she continued, dramatically, "I've died twice."   
  
"So, what do we do if you die facing You know who?" Ron asked bluntly. Buffy looked floored for a minute, before Xander took sympathy on her.  
  
"I bring her back to life. Again."  
  
Three pairs of eyes turned at him, two pairs shining with amazement, one with gratitude. He smiled softly at Buffy. "Yeah, that's kinda what I do."  
  
"Huh," Harry grunted, draining the remainder of his drink. "Good for you."  
  
"Thanks," Xander stated. "Now, Ron, what can we do for you? Now we've established that the two superheroes are both equally brave and equally strong and there is absolutely no way to choose between them." He gave the two mentioned superheroes a warning glare that caused both to blush in embarrassment.   
  
"I just broke up with Hermione," Ron replied, ruefully. Xander clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Tough break man, really." Ron shrugged. "Like I told Harry, it's not a big deal."   
  
"Wanna slay something with me?" Buffy asked, humour dancing in her eyes. "That's what always makes me feel better"  
  
"So, encouraging violence is better than encouraging drinking?" Xander asked, mockingly.   
  
"Sure, violence doesn't result in long term damage to the liver."  
  
"I swear, I will never understand how your mind works, Summers."  
  
Buffy grinned widely, before picking up her almost full glass. Meeting Xander's gaze, she calmly downed the entire drink, setting the empty glass back on the table. Raising an eyebrow, she restrained a laugh at the others' incredulous faces. "Your round, Xander"  
  
"Yes, oh almighty Slayer One," Xander followed her example, finishing his drink as well. Turning to the boys, who were doing fine fish impressions, opening and closing their mouths in amazement, he continued. "Gentlemen, I believe the challenge has been lain before us. Take this moment now to leave with minimal dignity, if that is your choice. If not, prepare for some serious drinking, the drinking of men. And women, obviously," he hastily added, Buffy's foot perilously near his ankle. Ron grinned, and followed his teachers in downing the alcohol; He glanced at Harry, concerned he would take the opportunity to bail. Harry stared at the beer for a moment, as the others waited with baited breath. Slowly, he raised his glass to his lips, drinking calmly until finally he tipped his head back, the last drops falling down his throat. Setting the glass back down, he looked each of the others in the eyes.   
  
"So, why is the next round not here yet?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
Hermione and Spike walked together in glowering silence, each taking turns at glaring at the other. Finally, Hermione stopped, exasperated. "What?"  
  
Spike looked surprised, "Don't know what you mean love."  
  
"I mean, why are you glaring at me like that?"  
  
"I'm glaring? Pet, you're the one giving me the evil eye, and all I'm doing is being a gentleman, like."  
  
"A gentleman? You're bloody stalking me! I told you, I don't need a body guard!"  
  
"Yeah, well, I'm just doing my job. Can't have you walking about alone, you could get hurt." Spike looked so uncomfortable Hermione felt herself softening. "Fine, I guess it can't hurt to have you around." She almost laughed at the grin that suddenly graced the vampire's face.   
  
"So, pet. You come here often?" Spike smiled, shyly, as his question set Hermione off into peals of laughter. Shyly? He winced inwardly, since when was William the Bloody shy? He looked at the young girl, who had now slightly calmed and looked back at him with new found appreciation. "You know, you're not so bad when you're not being an arsehole," she giggled.  
  
"Cheers, love, you're ok yourself, when you're not doing the girl power bit."  
  
"So, Spike," Hermione started. "When you're not saving damsels who aren't in distress, what do you spend your time doing?"  
  
"Watching Passions."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Oh man, don't tell me, you've never seen Passions," Spike exclaimed, bouncing excitedly. "It's the best, I'll bring my tapes over, next time I'm at my crypt."  
  
"I'm more of an Eastenders kind of girl." Hermione confessed. "I get my parents to tape a whole term's worth and I watch them all whenever I'm home."  
  
"Yeah, I was into that for a while, haven't spent much time here for years, so kinda lost the plot."  
  
"You're telling me."  
  
"Oi, no need to be rude." Spike pretended to look offended, causing Hermione to laugh gently again. He grinned, deciding Hermione laughing was one of the nicest sounds he'd heard in a while.  
  
"So, why are you walking alone," he cautiously asked, suddenly regretting it, when she stopped laughing and her face fell.   
  
"I just broke up with Ron"  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry. Guy's an idiot."  
  
She smiled, gently, "That's sweet, but he didn't dump me. We've just drifted apart, that's all."  
  
"Um, ok then." He paused, thinking of a new topic. "So, do think Man United will do well this year?"  
  
Hermione stopped, dead in her tracks. "God, I hope not, I hate Manchester United."  
  
Spike glared at her. "Tell me you're joking."  
  
"No."  
  
"Pet, Manchester United is one of the few things in this world worth keeping it around for."  
  
"Tell me YOU'RE joking," Hermione exclaimed. "I mean, have you even BEEN to Old Trafford?"  
  
"Yes!" Spike leered at her, before backing off slightly. "Ok, so there wasn't a football team there at the time."   
  
Hermione folded her arms over her chest. "That's it, I don't want protection from a Man U fan."  
  
"Well, maybe I don't want to protect someone who has no appreciation for the best team in the world."  
  
"Fine!"  
  
"Fine!"  
  
With that, they both stormed off in separate directions. Spike had only gone a few strides, before he heard a muffled scream. Turning he saw Hermione stumble, before falling into a ditch, running by the side of the Forbidden Forest. "Oh, Bloody Hell! I told the silly bitch she needed a body guard!" He shrugged, before running after her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Xander looked down at the passed out Ron on the floor. The young teen had been the first to go in the drinking contest. Glancing over, he saw Buffy and Harry deep in meaningful, drunken conversation. Clearing his throat, they looked irritated at being interrupted. Gesturing vaguely towards the floor, Xander directed their attention to Ron. Blinking, he missed for a moment the pointed glare Buffy was aiming towards him, which was in reality intimidating the table five feet away from Xander. Suddenly getting the gist of the silent communication, Xander stood shakily, leaning down to haul Ron over his shoulder. Straightening, he almost staggered under the weight. "I shall be back," he declared, before stumbling out of the door, carrying Ron back towards Hogwarts. Buffy paused, as she heard retching sounds coming from outside, as Xander threw up in the flowerbeds. She looked out of the window, to see Xander standing again, before wandering unsteadily back towards the school. After a moment he returned, picked up Ron again, and slowly left her view. Buffy turned her attention back the charming boy sitting with her.  
  
'..have you ever read The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Buff? Fy. Err, you don't mind if I call you Buff do you?' Harry blinked hard, stared for a moment and tried to work out which of the two blurry Buffys he was talking to. He decided it didn't really matter; they were both smiling and saying the same thing.  
  
'Yesh, I mean no, I don't mind' she hiccupped and looked puzzled for a moment 'but I mean yesh, I read it, it was sooo funny!' she giggled and took another gulp of her Fire whiskey. 'And weird too! Imagine all that stuff about alternate universes, and how, how, like how even right now, right this very second,'..she stabbed at the table unsteadily, as if trying to pin down the wayward second in question.. 'This very second we could be in one of them! Or two. Or.. Or..'   
  
'Or three even?' rejoined Harry, nodding with mock seriousness while his leaning elbow slipped off the edge of the table very nearly spilling his fifth pint of Hogs breath Brewery's finest strong ale.   
  
'Yeah three even!' laughed Buffy while helping pull Harry back up onto his seat. 'And you know what, if it's true...' Harry nodded his head earnestly with a wide eyed but rather glazed expression ' ..well if it's true..' Buffy continued leaning forward conspiratorially '..we might be just characters in someone else's imagination in their universe, or in a book or film or something...'  
  
'Yesh?...' said Harry. 'Oh yesh, but really, that'sh silly, coz they're the ones being imagined by us and we're real! Well I am anyway! I think... In fact you're looking a bit blurry to me, maybe you're not real!' They both giggled and poked each other in an attempt to find out. Harry, his finger passing through the clear air of the second, rather blurrier Buffy, found the unexpected lack of resistance throwing him off balance and somehow sliding him off the side of his chair, so that he unexpectedly discovered he was sitting on the floor, still carefully holding his unspilled pint, and looking up at a laughing Buffy.  
  
"We are soooooo drunk!" Buffy exclaimed, proud of her deductive skills.   
  
"Yesh, we are very, very drunk," Harry agreed, nodding solemnly, also feeling that this was a significant moment.  
  
"We should probably go back to the...to the... to the really big place we live in." She paused, thinking hard. "To the school! Yesh, we should go back to the school." She looked up to see Harry nodding, or rather drooping his head in agreement. Standing, she hauled her drunken pupil to his feet. Rosemerta looked faintly relieved, thankful that they were finally leaving.   
  
Miraculously they made it back to the castle with out passing out, despite stumbling every few feet along the way. In their inebriated state they, like Xander earlier, failed to notice the disturbed ground where Hermione and Spike had been. They fell through the doors to the castle, barely missing Filch or Mrs Norris doing their rounds. Buffy glimpsed the cat's tail, rounding a corner ahead of them. Gently nudging Harry, they both had to suppress giggles that would have given them away. The stairs felt as challenging as a mountain to climb, and both were breathing heavily by the time they reached the Gryffindor tower, feeling the effects of the alcohol slowly wear off from the efforts. Giving her new best friend a huge hug good night, Buffy fell towards her rooms. Harry stood for a moment, figuring out which direction he had to turn to get into his dorm. This allowed Draco to step out of the shadows, where he had been waiting for Harry to return.  
  
"Harry?" he asked cautiously.  
  
"Draco!" Harry exclaimed, almost falling as he spun around to face the object of his desires.  
  
"Can I talk to you?"  
  
"Course you can, Draco, you can always talk to me." Harry's voice was slurred. He turned to the Pink Lady, and stopped as he struggled to remember the password. She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry," she grumbled, swinging open regardless.   
  
"Thank you," Harry dragged Draco into the deserted Common Room. "What's the matter?"  
  
Draco was silent of a moment as he gathered his courage. He was actually thankful that Harry was so clearly drunk, at least there was a chance he wouldn't remember the conversation if he reacted badly. He took a deep breath and looked Harry in the eyes.  
  
"I was raped."  
  
Harry suddenly felt very sober.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 


	14. chapter 14

Ok, time I think to respond to the reviewers of the last few chs. I also just realised that means all of the reviewers currently on ff.net. Keep getting confused each time they remove this fic!!  
  
Here goes...  
  
Kyra2: thanks for all the reviews you've left, I love it when people tell me how they think the story is progressing chapter by chapter, it's these people I really write for. In answer to the many qus you've asked (sorry if some have already been answered) yes, Draco is a good guy now, yes I'm probably still going to be very mean to him. (I'm a sadist, I know!) As for Parkinson, I have some plans for her. Slow painful plans! (Insert evil laugh here!) But, I am a romantic at heart- Draco will start having an easier life, honest!! Glad you liked the drunken slayer- don't know if you've seen season 6 of Buffy, but I love the time she went drinking with Spike and was introduced to the seedy world of kitten poker! My beta, WychFire was the one who suggested a Harry/Buffy drinking scene and I just couldn't resist!!  
  
Maerihaana: Don't be too ashamed about not getting the Buffy season, it is quite confusing, I'll try to clear it up for you- when I first started writing this I'd only seen up to the 5th season, so I started writing from there. When I saw season 6 I decided to keep my fic AU. Willow and co DID raise Buffy from the dead, but to be honest I was kinda disappointed with the 6th season, the Geek Trio never appealed to me as villains. Also Buffy continually moping got boring, plus I'm a purist- Buffy/Angel all the way so I really didn't like Buffy/Spike. But I do love Spike's character though; so there will be smooch action for him, don't worry! As for where I am in Harry Potter, they're in the 6th year, but book 5 didn't happen. (Basically I wanted to leave it open, when I started this, in case I loved events in book 5, but I'm not going to include it. Also I wanted them to be a bit older, kiddies aren't so much fun to write!!) Glad you like Water, she's my personal fave of the elementals, closely followed by Earth. And, no, we haven't seen the last of Lucius; I have BIG plans for him, which I really hope will be surprising and original!!   
  
SilvaraWilde: see what I said about Spike above. Does that answer your question?!  
  
Harpling: Welcome to the insanity!! You never watched Buffy?! Go down to your nearest rental store and hire every single season now, I command you! But, for now, in a bid to clear up some confusion here is a very brief summary of the Buffy cast.  
  
Buffy: the Slayer, one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to fight the vampires. (played by Sarah Michelle Geller)  
  
Giles: Her Watcher, who trains and guides the Slayer. Has a past of dabbling in black magic. (played by Anthony Stuart Head)  
  
Willow: a very powerful witch, Buffy's best friend, recently a lesbian. (played by Alison Hannigan)  
  
Xander: Buffy and Willow's other best friend, the only actual human. Has raised Buffy from the dead twice (once by CPR and once with Willow, Anya and Tara using a spell) (played by Nicholas Brendon)  
  
Anya: 1000 year old former vengeance demon who is now mortal and engaged to Xander. (played by Emma Caulfield)  
  
Tara: Witch and Willow's lover, painfully shy, bless her! (played by Amber Benson)  
  
Spike: blenched blonde punk vampire with a chip in his head, implanted by US government, preventing him from hurting humans. (played by the VERY gorgeous James Marsters!)  
  
Dawn: Buffy's sister who isn't actually real. She is an inter dimensional Key which some monks transformed into a human the Slayer would protect with her life (her sister) rewriting history in the process so no one (not even Dawn) would realise the truth. (Played by Michelle Traughtenburg)   
  
Thanks also go to:  
  
Dark Comet  
  
Tewks  
  
Chelsea  
  
Icedrake1  
  
Slytherin's Silver Dragon  
  
Lunar Scythe  
  
i-miei-occhi-verdi  
  
Becca  
  
Specialphreak  
  
Hope that covered everyone, if I missed you, I'm really sorry, but thank you for the review.   
  
Ok, having written a well over a page on thanks yous, I better start getting on with the ch! As always PLEASE leave a review, letting me know what you think. I really need a lot of encouragement at the moment, things have been pretty tough lately, my bastard fiancé just dumped me. (Anyone wanting to send him a Howler, feel free!!)  
  
And, majorly- everyone- go out and buy Firefly on DVD!!! It is one of the best series I've ever seen, but those evil at FOX cancelled it in favour of reality TV shows! But, seriously folks, it's amazing, Joss Whedon at his best, I cannot recommend it highly enough, the more interest shown in it, the more likelihood of a revival- there's already at least one film planned for release in 2005- there should be more!!  
  
CHAPTER 14  
  
Long moments slipped by as Draco became increasingly nervous by Harry's silence. Coughing slightly, he brought the shocked boy's attention back to the situation. As Harry shook himself, trying to focus, Draco found himself getting more and more uncomfortable, his eyes darting around the room, desperately seeking somewhere, anywhere, away from Harry.   
  
"When?" Harry finally managed to get out.  
  
"When I went home."  
  
"Who?"  
  
Draco inhaled sharply. This was the question he had been dreading, not wanting Harry to lose his temper. "Voldemort." He answered, softly, closing his eyes and waiting for the explosion. He wasn't disappointed.  
  
"What? I'll kill him!"  
  
Despite the seriousness of the circumstances, Draco could not help the small grin that crept onto his face. "Weren't you going to do that anyway?"  
  
"How can you joke about this?" Harry looked ready to burst, his face as red as Ron's hair. "Why didn't Water protect you?"  
  
"She didn't know, there was a spell. And I can joke because what's the alternative? I stay crying, stay weak?"  
  
"You were earlier!" As soon as the words came out of Harry's drunken mouth, he wished he could take them back. Draco's face shut down, any emotion hidden by the cold mask that slipped over his features.  
  
"Well, maybe I've had a little perspective since then."   
  
"Draco, I'm sorry." Harry sat down heavily on the large armchair. He looked up at Draco's cool features, his heart racing from both the shock and the alcohol. Blinking rapidly to clear his blurring vision and attempt to stop the room swaying, he prayed he hadn't driven Draco away permanently. After a while, Draco nodded, ruefully. "I suppose I did deserve that."  
  
"Nnnnoo, you didn't," Harry stammered, wondering what he had done to offend the floor that seemed intent on lurching towards his face. With a small, sad smile, Draco slung an arm under Harry's shoulders, lifting him up until he was more or less upright.  
  
"Come on, let's get you into bed."  
  
"No, Draco, we can't. I mean, I want to, but we shouldn't," Harry mumbled.  
  
"To get you to sleep," Draco, sighed, exasperated, as he started to half carry, half drag Harry to the sixth year dorms.   
  
"I knew that."  
  
"Idiot"   
  
"I'm not. Mmmm fine, honest," Harry's head drooped forward onto his chest as he tried to convince Draco of his well being.  
  
"Sure you are. How much have you had to drink anyway?" Draco laughed, fondly, the usual sarcastic bite gone from his voice.   
  
"Not much."  
  
"Uh huh." Draco raised an eyebrow as he surveyed the Gryffindor boys, snoring loudly. One of the few benefits of living in Slytherin was that the greater sense of decorum among the students, raised as aristocrats. Ron had been inelegantly dumped on top of his bed, his mouth wide open, lines of drool staining the quilt. Quickly identifying which bed was Harry's, he gently laid the moaning boy on his mattress. As he turned to go, he craned his head around to glance over his shoulder. Harry was looking blearily around, not quite succumbing to the sleep trying to claim him.  
  
"You know, what I said," Draco murmured softly. "I don't expect anything, I don't want your pity, or for you to act differently. I just wanted you to know, that's all. Sleep well."  
  
Harry's snores filled his ears as he wandered slowly and quietly out of the Gryffindor tower, towards the Slytherin Dungeons and his own bed.

For some reason Hermione wasn't where he thought he'd seen her fall when Spike got there. Instead he could hear the sound of a struggle moving off through the forest, and judging by the amount of noise, there were at least one or two creatures much larger than the human girl he now cursed himself for allowing to walk off alone just moments earlier.  
  
Crashing through the monochrome shadows of the moonlit undergrowth, he followed the sounds gradually getting louder ahead of him. He could hear Hermione shouting, but couldn't make out the words. He slowed for a second to pin down the exact location, then quickened his pace, bursting out into a small clearing. It was at exactly that moment that a large arm slammed brutally into his head. Staggering temporarily stunned into the centre of the clearing, he barely noticed when Hermione violently pushed past him  
  
"Stupefy!"   
  
The demon that had punched him was suddenly stopped short of reaching him as the spell hit it. Aiming again, Hermione didn't spare Spike a glance as she cast the second spell.  
  
"Petrificus Totalus!"   
  
The demon froze, it's arms slammed into its sides. The spikes leading out of its wrists suddenly cut into the large thighs. A Polgara demon, Spike thought, vaguely, as the creature toppled over. He had not seen one alive before. Or even in one piece, he inwardly grinned, wryly remembering the Polgara arm used by the Frankenstein-like monster, Adam over a year ago in Sunnydale. He looked up, out of his musings, to see Hermione, looking impatiently at him, hands on her hips and her eyes glaring daggers at him.  
  
"What?" He tried to look innocent, but over one hundred years of killings made it a hard look to pull off.  
  
"You always this late?"  
  
Spike looked around at the other two Polgaras lying petrified on the ground and shrugged his leather duster into place on his shoulders.   
  
"Thought you were doing pretty well without me pet. Didn't seem like I was needed, so..."  
  
"Oh yes, of course! That's what it was!" Hermione interrupted venomously "Well right, no you're not needed! So will you please just leave me alone!?"  
  
"Alright, love, no need to get your knickers in a twist!" Spike grinned.   
  
The young firebrand said nothing, but glared back at him, apparently waiting for him to leave. Unexpectedly an image of those 'twisted' knickers, being worn by Hermione with very little else, popped unbidden into his head. It had suddenly struck him what a strong and sexy young women she was when not wearing those daft school robes. He raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised at his own imaginings.   
  
Hermione stormed towards him "Spike, what the hell are you smiling at? Are you going to go back to the castle or just stand there grinning at me like an idiot?"  
  
His grin widened - he was enjoying baiting the young witch. "Yeah, sure, we'll just have a nice little wander back to the castle and wait for someone else to come by and deal with these cute little demons when your fancy pants spells wear off."   
  
Hermione froze, and even in the moonlight, the colour drained from her cheeks as she realised what Spike intended to do. His expression softening slightly, he glanced down at the demons lying temporarily immobile on the rough ground. "You don't have to watch you know, I can kill 'em without an audience."  
  
"You think I can't stomach it?"  
  
"No, pet, I think you're about to be sick at the thought of it. Nice, pretty, well brought up girl like you, shouldn't think you're much of a one for the blood and gore scene."  
  
Damn him! thought Hermione. She hated to admit it, even to herself, but the good-looking egotistical bastard was right. Not only did the idea of decapitating anything make her feel decidedly queasy, she knew that if it hadn't been for Spike distracting it, she probably wouldn't even have noticed the third whatever-it-was demon that had been about to attack her from behind. Still, there was no way she was going to let him know that now.  
  
Hermione marched up to him until they were barely millimetres apart, defiantly meeting his gaze.   
  
"I can do whatever has to be done."   
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Spike returned her stare, and for several seconds there was an impasse, her deep brown eyes locked with his of ice blue. As much as he tried to look tough, Spike found instead that he was acutely aware of her subtle scent, of her body heat radiating warmth to the cold of his vampire skin, of the vapour from her breath in the cold night air brushing like ghostly fingers across his face...  
  
It was almost simultaneously that he relaxed his stance and Hermione broke the tension by asking "Okay, so how do you kill these, these... whatever they are?"  
  
"Polgara demons," Spike grinned. "Nasty buggers, especially for vampires. Come handily equipped with their very own built-in stakes. As for killing, I was planning to go with nice and simple decapitation, unless you have any better ideas?" He laughed at the surprise registering on her face. "What, love?"  
  
"So, got a handy sword or two stashed away in that over-priced coat of yours have you?" the young witch challenged with a sarcastic smile.   
  
Spike's expression grew thunderous. "You can just piss-off! Now! No one disses this coat, you hear me?"  
  
"Oh come on, getting all worked up over fashion are we?"  
  
"This is not fashion pet, this is spoils of war, a sign of victory! It makes a bloody statement, you silly bint!"  
  
"Whoaa! Okay, okay, calm down. Sorry I even mentioned the nice pretty coat," Hermione smirked, making Spike's blood boil even more. And reminding him once again, he suddenly realised, of the annoying Slayer he had once described as the bloody thorn in his bloody side.   
  
Growing impatient with the vampire, Hermione folded her arms and scowled "So? Do you?"  
  
"Do I what?"  
  
"Have. A. Sword. . . . To.Cut.Off.Their.Heads."  
  
"Don't talk to me like I'm some kind of bloody moron, I'm your bloody elder! You should treat me with some fucking respect!"  
  
"And you shouldn't swear at a FUCKING STUDENT!"  
  
"DON'T YOU BLOODY SHOUT AT ME!"  
  
"I'LL BLOODY SHOUT AT ANYONE I BLOODY LIKE!"  
  
"THEN FUCK YOU LUV!"  
  
"FUCK YOU TOO!!"  
  
Hermione glared at the vampire, blood rushing to her face, her heart pumping furiously as she gasped for breath. Every fibre of her being rang with deep and utter loathing of the arrogant bastard in front of her. But. But... Lifting one foot to step away from him, she instead found herself moving forward at the same moment that he reached for her. His arms snaked around her back, pulling her close, as he moved his head down, kissing her with an intensity which fed on itself, growing in passion with each passing second.   
  
For a second she tried to resist, but the passion she'd been longing for overwhelmed her and a heartbeat later, she began kissing him back, bringing her hands to the back of his head, preventing him from moving away. After several long moments, she began to feel light headed, dimly remembering the human need for oxygen. She pulled away with a gasp as Spike started to kiss down the side of her neck, feeling the rapid pulse beneath her skin. Her hands moved down to his shoulders, entwining her fingers in the folds of his beloved leather duster, pulling it tight with a strength that threatened to rip it apart. Sliding one arm down, Spike lifted her up, as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He slammed her up against a tree, revelling in her moan as his lips found hers again, kissing him desperately.  
  
They were both electrified with shock as the dying shriek of one of the Polgara demons echoed through the forest. Dropping Hermione, Spike moved away, making ready to fight but shaking his head as if dazed. She blushed furiously as she saw an equally scarlet Rupert Giles standing stunned in amazement, a sword in one hand, the severed head of the dead Polgara in the other. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but could only manage to stammer, as he suddenly found the area just left of her head infinitely fascinating.   
  
"Well, er, yes, um, ok then, so sorry to intrude, err, well, carry on then, quite."  
  
With the look of someone who had seen a sight more bizarre and disturbing than anything he could have imagined, Giles began to back away, pausing to distractedly remove the remaining demon heads. Spike turned back to Hermione as the dazed expression on his face turned to one of amusement and triumph.   
  
"See, I told you they should have been decapitated!"

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